


The Tower: Unexpected

by AvengersCompound (emilyevanston), fanficwriter013



Series: The Tower [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Blindfolds, Bondage, F/F, F/F/F/M/M/M/M/M/M/M, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Orgy, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Smut, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, various pairings - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-05-18 21:59:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 38,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19343488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficwriter013/pseuds/fanficwriter013
Summary: A little over 2 years after moving into the Avengers Tower, Elly finds herself pregnant against the odds.  While some are excited, others are terrified, and pregnancy that none expected to happen causes rifts through the group and threatens to end the relationship.





	1. One-By-One

You know when you have an idea that seems pretty good at the time and then later it turns out to be just the worst thing you’ve ever done?  Well, this is kind of the opposite to that.  It was a stupid idea at the time.  I was already partially regretting it when the blindfold went on.  But even though, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through, the end result was the best thing that has ever happened to me.

You see, Thor was in town and as usual, things were a little out of control.  Thor was very, very popular when he was on Earth.  Along with a general grapple to spend time with him, there were more orgies than normal.  A lot of it was him.  He is not only extremely hot but very calming.  He was one of the few people that made Bruce genuinely giddy to be around.  Not the usual blushing.  Or the more demanding side when Hulk was pushing on him, but giddy and excitable.  He kinda just has this effect on you.

I was sitting around in the common room with Natasha and Clint while some of the others kept coming in and out of the room and I’d said one day I was going to have all the guys come inside of me in the one session.  For some reason, Natasha ran with the idea.  She was really excited about.  Clint said there was no way in hell I’d be able to last that long.  Natasha said if anyone could it was me, that okay, maybe, Steve, Bucky, and Thor would need to be warmed up a little first, but I could do it.

It became this thing.  She told everyone.  I ended up with my wrists in leather cuffs and shackled to the edge of the pit-bed.  My eyes covered and Natasha running her hands over me.

“You’re ready for this, mishka?”  She whispered against my ear.

“Mmm… Yes, Tasha.”  I hummed.

Around me, I could hear the others.  The whispers of fabric brushing past skin as it was shed and tossed aside.  The wet smack of lips against lips.  Soft moans as they each began to explore each other.  My skin started to feel warm and prickle and I snapped my head to the side.  “Wanda?”

“I’m right here, Elly,”  Wanda said softly.

Natasha began kissing down my body.  Each place her lips touched made the vibration from Wanda’s powers suddenly feel more intense.  When her lips touched down on my pussy, I gasped and arched up.  The wet rasp of Natasha’s tongue over my clit mixed with the buzz from Wanda sent a jolt right up my spine and made my cunt flood.

Natasha hummed and swirled her tongue around before replacing it with her thumb.  “Ready for them already?”  One of her fingers slipped inside of me and she circled her thumb over my clit.

I bucked against her hand and jerked against the bonds.  “Yes, Natalia.  I’m always ready for any of you.”

“Well, then,”  She hummed and took her hand away.  The warm buzz of Wanda’s powers winked out and both women moved away from me.  Large strong hands grabbed my hips and someone moved between my legs.  I lifted a foot and placed it on a firm chest.  They leaned down, pushing my leg back against my chest and pulled one of my nipples into their mouth as they teased the head of their cock up and down my soaking pussy.

“Sam?”  I half moaned.

He chuckled in reply.  “Now how did you know it was me, princess?”

“I know my bird,”  I replied.

“Of course you do.”  He said and brought his lips to mine.  As he did he sunk his cock slowly into me.

I moaned into the kiss, my cunt squeezing around his cock as he entered me.  Around me, the sounds had changed.  Bodies shifted against the mattress.  Moans became more frequent, occasionally joined by voices, though there seemed to be some kind of rule that talking was to be kept to a minimum.

Sam started to thrust inside me.  I wanted to hold him, to dig my fingers into his back, but I was helpless to do anything.  His mouth moved along my jaw and to my neck.  He sucked a patch, using his teeth.  I groaned knowing he was marking me.

He began to move faster, rutting hard and deep into me.  I was pinned under him, moaning, my hands opening and closing in my bonds.  The base of his cock rubbed against my clit with each forward thrust, bringing me closer and closer to the edge.

“Oh god, Sammy.  Gonna come.”  I babbled.

“I’m right there with you, princess.”  Sam rasped.  “You ready for the first of us?”

“Yes.  Oh god, yes.  I want it.”  I cried, bucking under him.

He groaned and bit down into my shoulder.  I arched up suddenly as my orgasm hit and he groaned and released inside of me.  His cock pulsed as my cunt milked him through it.

“That’s one, princess.”  He whispered slipping from inside of me.  “Who do you think will be next?”

He moved away and for a moment I just lay there panting, my legs shaking a little.  Another body took his place and began placing long, slow kisses up my stomach.  The scratch of a beard tickling my skin.  I hooked my leg around him and ran my foot down the curve of his back and over his ass.

“Hello, Tony,”  I whispered.

“Is that what this is going to be?  Guess the dick?”  He teased as his tongue flicked over my nipple.

“Mm-hmm…” I hummed.

“What’s the point of the blindfold then?”  He asked, continuing his path up my body.  His lips ghosting over my skin as he spoke.

“Not much of a guessing game if I can see.”  I teased.

Tony laughed and kissed me under the ear.  “Well, guess what, boss?  I finally get to be on top and there is nothing you can do about it.”

He grabbed my thighs and with a quick snap of his hips, he was deep inside of me. “Oh no.” I gasped.

“I know, darling.  So hard for you.” He teased as he began to thrust hard into me.

“That's… what … she… said…” I said, each word accentuated with a thrust.

Tony chuckled and brought his lips to mine.  He kissed me hungrily, his tongue circling with mine.  I moaned loudly, not breaking the kiss and wrapped my legs around his waist just so I could hold on.

He rested one hand on my throat and the other trailed down my body, cupping my breast, teasing down my side before he reached my cunt and began teasing my clit.

I broke our kiss with a gasp.  Tony’s mouth moved to my left breast and he began sucking just on the underside.  Pressing his teeth against my soft flesh as I moaned under him.  I was going to come away from this with a series of hickeys all over me, I could tell now.  I moaned and whimpered under him as another orgasm approached.

“Tony.  Tony.  Tony.”  I babbled, each utterance of his name, half question, half statement.

“Gonna come for me?”  He asked, his thrusts coming harder and faster.

“Oh, god, yes.  Please, Tony.”  I cried.

He kept moving, his fingers rolling over my clit.  I arched up off the bed as my orgasm hit.  Tony grabbed my hips and held me down as he kept rutting into me.

“Please, Tony.  I want it.” I groaned.

He grunted, slamming into me and with a hard thrust he held me in place as he came, his semen mixing with Sam’s.

I hummed and went to touch him, but only managed to jerk my arms in their bonds.  “Shh… it’s okay, dear.”  He said running his hands down my arms and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

He slipped out of me and moved away.  I felt two hands on my ankles, one flesh and one metal.  “Bucky…”  I breathed.

“Hey, darlin’.” He hummed.  “How are you doing?  Want to change positions?”

I nodded and he unclipped the cuffs from the headboard and pulled me up into his lap.   I hooked my cuffed arms around his neck as he lowered me down onto his cock.

“How are your shoulders?”  He whispered as I adjusted to his girth.

“They’re okay,”  I replied and started to roll my hips in his lap.

We started to kiss and I added a bounce to the moment.  I moved up and down on his dick, swirling my hips.  He held me close, one hand pressed into my lower back and the other tangled in my hair.

“Oh god, Buck.  You feel so good.”  I moaned, letting my head fall back.  His cock slid in and out of me easily and I squeezed my walls around it as I moved.

“You’re gonna make me come before you do, the way you’re goin’, El.”  He rumbled.

He started sucking hard at the dip of my clavicle and thrusting up into me.  I moaned and clutched at his back, my fingers digging into the thick, corded muscles.  I could feel a third orgasm approaching.

Bucky’s fingers moved to my clit and I gave into him.  Letting myself feel all the places he was touching me and every pleasure center that had been activated.  I came, clenching around him and my toes curling.  “Oh god, yes.”

Bucky groaned and kept bouncing me in his lap.  I kept swirling my hips and clenching my walls, milking his cock.  With a groan he released.  I could feel him filling me in waves.   “Oh god, yes.”  I moaned.

He lifted me up off his lap and lay me back down, pulling his head out from between my linked arms.  “Three down.  Four to go.  Who’s next, do you think?”  He purred in my ear before moving away.

I stretched a little as I waited to find out.  I could still hear Steve and Thor, though they were obviously trying to keep quiet.  Clint was noisier.  He was moaning and talking in a whine.  I am sure he was at least with Natasha because I definitely heard him say her name.

A body moved up beside me and guided me on my side, before spooning me.  I could feel his soft chest hair pressed against my back and the tickle of his scruff as he kissed the side of my neck.  He wrapped his arms around me and took hold of the cuffs around my wrists, pinning my hands to my chest.

“Mmm… B… please fuck me.”  I hummed as he lazily teased the head of his cock up and down my folds.

“Don’t worry, El.  I plan to.”  He whispered, slowly kissing my neck.  “I think you should know though, while he did enjoy the foreplay we had with Tony and then Thor and then watching, he’s a little annoyed we didn’t get to go first.”

“That’s not my fault, big guy,”  I said in a half whine, grinding my ass against him.

“He knows.  He’s just feeling a little possessive.”  On the word possessive, Bruce thrust hard into me, so our bodies cracked together.  I yelped at the sudden invasion and my hands tightened into fists.

“You gotta learn to share, big guy.”  I moaned as Bruce began to rut against me.

“Something I’ve been saying for years.”  Bruce joked.

He bit down into my shoulder and sucked at the patch of skin he had between his teeth.  A fourth hickey, joining the three that were already developing on my skin.  He kept one hand pinning my wrists against my chest.  The other roamed over me.  Massaging my breasts, running over my throat, digging into my hips.

As his moans got louder and more primal, his fingers came to my clit.  I was over-worked already, my cunt sensitive and swollen.  I mewled and leaned my head back against his shoulder.  “Oh god, B.  That’s it, just like that.”

“I’ve got you, El.”  He groaned, picking up the pace of his thrusts.

I came.  My whole body seizing up against him.  He was obviously right on edge, he groaned and spilled inside me adding to the others.

He kissed my cheek as he slipped from within me and rolled away.  A moment later large hands were on me massaging my shoulder.  “How are you doing sweetheart?  You still want this.” Steve whispered.

“Mmm… Yes please, Steve.  I want all of you.” I hummed.

He chuckled softly.  “Your quite the mess right now.” He pushed two of his fingers inside of me and corkscrews his wrist. I moaned and let out a shuddering breath as a jolt past through me.  Steve pulled his finger free and a moment later they touched on my lips, sticky and wet.  I sucked on them, a heady cocktail of me, Sam, Bucky, Tony and Bruce coating my taste buds.  “It’s dripping from you,” Steve whispered against my ear.

I moaned again and shifted where I lay, my whole body flushed and buzzing.

“Can you get on your hands and knees?” Steve asked.

I shifted into position.  My legs were feeling weak and I knew I wouldn’t last like that.  I also knew it wouldn’t matter.

Steve positioned himself behind me and pulled me back against him more.  I felt his cock, achingly hard against my ass.  He gently ran his hands over my shoulders and eased his cock inside of me.

I moaned, my head dropping forward, but Steve wrapped my hair around his fist and pulled it back as he started to fuck me.  Each thrust was slow and deep, pulling almost all the way out before slamming back in.  I could barely keep myself up and slowly began to sink down.  First, my head collapsing onto the mattress as my ass was propped in the air and then lying flat on my stomach my legs slightly spread.

It didn’t matter though, Steve never eased up.  He held my hair and one hand on my hip and just kept fucking me.  He lay almost completely on top of me, pushing me into the mattress as he did and bit the side of my neck, placing his own mark on my skin.

I completely fell apart under him.  I had no control over my body.  I was over stimulated and everything he did felt perfect.  My toes curled as an orgasm built.  “Steve… I can’t … Oh god…” I whimpered and then came hard.  He kept thrusting.  Keeping the same pace.  My cunt fluttering around his cock.  As one orgasm ended, another started and I started worrying I wasn’t going to make it.  I was going to have to tap out. Steve slammed into me as the second orgasm ended and came with a loud groan.  For a moment he just lay crushing me before he kissed the side of my neck and rolled off.

Another body moved up behind me, flipping me over easily and clipping my arms back onto the side of the bed.  He ran his hands up over my stomach and my hair follicles all stood on end as a static charge passed over me.  “Thor,” I hummed as he lifted my legs onto his shoulders.

“Yes, lover.” He said warmly.  “You’re doing so well.  You are just a normal Midgardian aren’t you?”

I laughed and lifted my hips off the mattress.  “I’m pretty sure.”

“Such stamina is admirable.” He said as he sunk his cock into me.

I have a few large lovers.  Steve and Bucky are formidable and while they do love double penetration and Thor isn’t as large as them both at once, he is huge.  My cunt was so swollen and sensitive, I felt so full.  Yet the fluids of both myself and the others allowed him to move easily.  He thrust hard and he seemed to be running electrical charges over my skin because my core muscles were contracting against my will like I was hooked up to a tens machine.

I had never felt such a combination of complete helplessness and arousal all at once.  I was his at that moment.  While I was aware that everyone was still there and watching I belonged to Thor.

I started to babble incoherently and an orgasm hit me, taking over my whole body.  Thor was nowhere near close though. He kept thrusting and leaned down and sucked on the side of my right breast, adding his own mark and creating another deep ache in me that blending in with the next orgasm.

I came three more times before Thor finally released.  It felt like a flood as he emptied inside of me with a loud groan.

My whole body trembled as he climbed off me.  I could feel semen dripping from me and I was weak and spent, but there was still Clint.  I was so close now I had to finish.

Clint crawled over to me and uncuffed my hands.  He kissed me softly and removed my blindfold.  I blinked slowly and looked up into his blue eyes.  “Hey, princess, that’s better isn’t it?”

I hummed and wrapped my arms around his neck.  “It sure is.”

“I think you’ll be pleased to hear that I’m a light breeze away from blowing my load too.”

I started giggling.  “Then how come you’re the last one?”

Clint brought his lips right up to my ear and pushed two of his fingers slowly into me.  “Being the last one might be a little kink I’ve never gotten to explore either.” He whispered so low that only I could hear.  “And let me tell you, princess.  You look so dirty right now and so fucking hot.”

He pulled his fingers out and showed me the sticky white mess on them.  “Fuck,” I breathed.

“Right?” He said with a quirk of his eyebrows. “You want these?”

I nodded and he brought them to my lips.  I sucked them slowly clean as he watched me his eyes darkened with lust as I did.

He ducked down between my legs and ran his tongue up my folds humming happily before moving back up and positioning his cock at my entrance.  His fingers skimmed down my neck and over my shoulders.  “Where do you want mine?”

I tapped a spot on my collarbone and he kissed it softly and sunk into me.  As he began to roll his hips against mine he sucked on that spot.  I ran my fingers through his hair and down his back for the first time looking around at the others.

Bucky, Sam, and Steve sat in a little group watching closely though they were all clearly done for the night.  Thor was watching with Natasha, fingering her slowly as electricity danced over her skin.

Tony lay between Bruce’s legs as Bruce stroked his cock.  He looked close and Bruce was a little green at the edges.  Wanda was curled in a ball near to but not touching Sam.  She looked as spent as I felt and her eyes were drooping but her hands were both between her legs, pushing on her cunt like she was trying to relieve some pressure.

I moaned as I watched them.  Clint kept up his slow gentle pace but at this point, it was all I needed.  My orgasm washed over me and I clung to Clint through it.  He relaxed and released with me.  The last of my boys coming inside me and mixing with the others.

When he pulled out I curled up against him and he held me.  “Worth it?” He whispered.  I nodded my head. “Ever going to do that again?” He asked and when I shook my head he started laughing.

“Alright,” Steve said, scooping me into his arms.  “Time to get you cleaned up.  I think a bath after that.  You must be sore.”

I nodded.  “Thank you, Steve,” I said sleepily.

“Of course, sweetheart.” He said as he stood.  “Can someone bring Wanda.  I think she might need it too. Of course, you’re all welcome to join us.”

Everyone started getting up to follow us into the bathroom.  Sam picked up Wanda and cradling her in his arms.

If I knew then what I know now, I wonder if I would have felt as content as I did.


	2. Against the Odds

It took quite a while to suspect I was pregnant.  It was after Thor had left for Asgard.  I know you’re probably thinking I’m a huge idiot for that.  You’ve been following the story.  You’ve heard about the kinds of sex I have and with the sheer volume of people I have it with.  I’ve also never mentioned a condom once.  The thing is I have Implanon in place.  The stats for that are good.  Yeah, okay, no birth control is 100% effective.  But this one is like 1/1000 women every three years.  The odds were in my favor.

I also can hear the mom in the back of my head yelling at me about how ‘condoms don’t just protect against pregnancy, Elise’.  That is true, and okay I’m not the smartest person.  I got carried away sometimes, but they are the Avengers.  I figured with the amount Natasha had stalked me, to begin with, they had something in place to make sure nothing was passed on to other people or vice versa.  I was right in the end too, so back off, mom.  Also, don’t follow my example, it gets you pregnant.

The thing I didn’t mention, was before I even came along Bruce had developed a contraceptive for the men.  He didn’t want to risk himself getting anyone pregnant and he thought it would save any problems with women outside trying to make claims against them.  I’d had a talk very early on with Sam about babies, and if they had wanted them and what would they do if say Wanda ever got accidentally knocked up.  He’d told me that the men were all on this shot they took every month, and babies weren’t really in the books for them.  That maybe later Wanda might decide she wanted to.  She was very maternal.  Right now though, none of the men in the group wanted nor felt they could handle being parents and if that changed for Wanda or if it was something I thought I wanted it might be the thing that took us out of the arrangement we had.

Ugh… fuck my life, seriously.

So I’d come to terms with that.  With my upbringing, I was never really sure if my biological call to have kids was me or the conditioning my parents had beat into me that I needed to be a wife and mother.  I knew at the time I had that conversation I wasn’t ready to, and maybe that would never change.

Then I started getting sick.  It was low-level nausea that dulled as the day progressed but it worsened every day.  I felt achy too.  Yes, in the breasts.  No one questioned it.  Double birth control, we were fine.  I was coming down with the flu or something.  I didn’t notice if I’d skipped periods or not.  My birth control made that happen anyway.

As soon as the thought passed through my head I panicked.  With Wanda here, I couldn’t risk her hearing that thought until I knew if it meant anything.  If she heard it, she’d get excited and then I wouldn’t be able to think about this rationally.  So I rushed to the closest CVS and bought some pregnancy tests and took them straight to my apartment and used them.

Every single one of them turned positive.

I didn’t know what to do.  I had been told in explicit terms they didn’t want children.  I wasn’t even sure if I wanted them.  Only looking at the tests I wasn’t having an ‘I’ve got get rid of them’ feeling.  I was worried they’d be angry with me.  That conditioning I had that I’d get in trouble for disappointing people was pretty heavily ingrained.  I was worried that I would make them feel trapped into doing something they didn’t want to do.  It was just, I could picture myself holding this baby.  I could picture them with a child.  Maybe it would have been better if Wanda had heard my thought then she could have told me what to do.

I considered calling up Jax and talking to him.  Maybe getting Clarke to just take me to a clinic and getting this over with and the others would never even have to know how close I came to ruining their lives.

Only I couldn’t do that.  They had a right to know.  To have input on this.  I imagined every single worst case scenario that you could imagine.  Bruce Hulking out and destroying the place.  Getting tossed to the street.  Having them accuse me of cheating on them.  Demanding DNA tests.  Even with all those thoughts, I told FRIDAY to call an emergency family meeting and took the elevator up to the common room with one of the positive tests in a baggie to wait for them all to arrive.

One by one they all trickled in each asking me what was wrong as I sat curled up in one of the recliners.  Each wanting to comfort me, but not knowing how when they didn’t know what I was dealing with.

Finally, Wanda came in with Sam and she looked at me and squeaked rushing over and climbing into the chair next to me and nuzzling into my side as she stroked her fingers gently over my stomach.

“Okay, so we’re all here.  What’s going on?”  Tony asked.

“So… um… I need to tell you something and I really need you to stay calm Bruce.  And also… I didn’t mean for this to happen.  Okay?  I … this wasn’t something I planned.”  I said looking directly at him.  I could feel my pulse racing.  Even with Wanda’s comforting touch, all I could think was the next thing out of my mouth was going to destroy all of this.

“El, honey, we’ve talked about this. You can’t start a sentence like that, and expect me to stay calm.”   Bruce said, stiffening up.

I shook my head feeling a very strong urge to cry.  “I don’t know how else to do this, B.  It’s bad either way.  At least you can brace yourself.”

“Rip the band-aid off, El,”  Tony said.

I took a deep breath in and dug in my pocket for the test and tossed it on the coffee table.  “I’m pregnant.”

Wanda squealed and squeezed me, peppering little kisses on my cheek.  The rest of the room froze and stared at me.  Some with their jaws dropped open.  Steve slowly went and picked up the test and turned it over in his hand.

“But - but - but … I, I, uh, made…”  Bruce stuttered.  He seemed to be turning green at the edges and I jumped up and rushed over to him, getting on my hands and knees in front of him and taking his hand.

“I know.  I know.  I was on it too. Look,”  I said twisting my arm so he could see the little bar implanted under my skin.  “I still am.  I don’t know what happened.”

“I don't…”  Bruce said and shook his head suddenly, he was turning a darker and his muscles started shifting.

“Bruce.  Come on, you can’t run from this.”  I implored, putting my head in his lap and digging my fingers into his thigh.  He started breathing heavily and I could feel the way his thigh muscles tensed and grew under me.  “Bruce.  I swear to god…”

“El, back up,”  Wanda said.

I burst into tears and scrambled back from him, tears streaming down my face as Bruce doubled over and changed, growing larger, his clothes tearing and his skin turning green.

“El,”  Nat said, “Come here.”

I moved up next to her and she wrapped me in her arms as Hulk took complete control over from Bruce.  “I’m sorry.”  I sobbed.  “I know no one wanted this.  I fucked up.”

She pulled me tightly against her and rubbed my back as I cried against her.

“Hulk, baby?”  Hulk rumbled moving closer to us.

I looked up at him through tear stained eyes.  “Hey, big guy.  Yeah.  Something like that.”

“Hulk, here.”  He said tapping his chest.

“Thank you,”  I said patting the back of his hand.  It was nice knowing I had someone else here who would support me, even if he wasn’t exactly the one that I wanted.  “I don’t know… I don’t know what to do.”

“We get ready,”  Wanda said.  “For a baby.”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.  “Yeah?”  I said and looked around at the others.  “Is that what everyone wants?”

Hulk huffed and nodded his head.  “Hulk want baby.”

I took a deep breath.  “Okay.  I guess.  I guess I need to give the rest of you time to process.  If anyone has strong reasons why you think I shouldn’t go through with this, now is the time.  I literally have no idea about the biology factor.  I don’t know how far along I am even.  Might be timed with a Thor visit.  A week either side I think in any case.  So I’m not sure how we tell him about that.”

“I could maybe run some tests,”  Tony said.  “You’d have to take your own blood, and I’m not the biologist.”

“Okay.  So we run blood tests to find out who?  That’s what we want to do now?”  I asked.

“No,”  Steve said firmly.  “We shouldn’t know whose they are.  We’re in this together.  That is all our baby.”

“You don’t want to know?  But what if it is Thor’s and there’s some special Asgardian prenatal care I need.  What if it’s Bruce’s and it hulks out inside me.”  I said.  I was half joking and then it occurred to me what I’d just said.  “Oh god, what if it hulks out inside me?  Can a fetus hulk out?”

“I’m not even sure I’d be able to read the results to know who’s it belonged to,”  Tony said.

“I can.  But I - I’m gonna need a Doctor.  Like an actual obstetrician.  I haven’t made an appointment yet because I just found out, but it can’t just be the way we do things.”  I explained.  There was a tendency in the tower for the others to rely heavily on Bruce and Sam for their medical care, even though neither were technically medical doctors.  If it was really bad they’d call in Helen Cho but they didn’t like to trust other people.  I needed to make sure Tony didn’t just try and take over as my doctor instead of actually getting one.

“I’m going to do the research,”  Tony said with a nod.  “With the potential, we need the best.”

“Okay.  But also quickly.  There’s vitamins and stuff I’m supposed to take and I have to get this out of my arm.  And I don’t know what I’m doing.” I said putting my head in my hands.  “I guess we can make it that if you don’t want to know we don’t have to test you but if you do we can.  That’s fair right?”

“I can agree to this,”  Steve said and Sam nodded with him.

“Okay,”  I said and took a shaky breath.  “And we’re all… I’m keeping it, right?  That’s what’s happening?”

Bucky looked at me with a pained expression.  “Do you not want to keep it?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t know what to do.”  I said breaking down again.  “I thought you’d all be angry at me.  Bruce is obviously angry at me.”

Hulk shook his head.  “Puny Banner scared.  Hulk here.  Hulk want baby.”  He put his hand forward.  “Hulk feel?”

“Yes.  There’s nothing to really feel yet.  But you can.”  I said leaning back against Natasha to give him room.  He gently placed his hand on me, so it wrapped around my side.  “You’ll be able to feel them when they’re bigger.”

“Them?”  Natasha asked.

“I - oh no,”  I said rubbing my head.  The idea of more than one was more I could even deal with right now.  “That was just a nongendered them but what if it’s them?”

“Twins.”  Wanda squealed.  Her excitement was nice but I was starting to feel emotionally exhausted like all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep until the baby was born.

“Let’s not… let’s just wait it’s probably just one right?”  I said.

“And you think you’re how far?”  Steve asked.

“This thing messes up my cycle,”  I answered, tapping my arm where my birth control was.  “I haven’t had a period for over three months.  I started feeling sick a few weeks ago. I started actually throwing up three days ago.”

“Okay, something for a blood sample then,”  Steve said.

“Ultrasound too, I suppose.  I’m sorry.”

“Honey, no,”  Steve said.  “We should have been more careful.”

“How more careful could we have been?”  I asked.

“But…”  Sam said quietly.

“But?”  I asked.

“Bruce’s drug. There were tests.”  He said.

It felt like Sam had slapped me in the face.  Of all the people to suggest I had manipulated this somehow I didn’t expect it to be him.  “What do you think I did, Sam?  You think I sabotaged it somehow?  You think I’ve been going out and sleeping around on top of the 9 of you and hoping this would happen?  I’m sorry.  I’m sorry that I’m apparently the most fertile person on the planet that only one escapee managed to do this.”

“No, honey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”  Sam said.  “I’m just trying to figure this out. Trying to process it. Which I’m sure you’re doing the same.”

“Sorry.  Shouldn’t have snapped.   I know no one wanted this.” I said quietly.  I’d started feeling really sick and I didn’t want to be in here anymore.

Wanda looked over at Natasha and something seemed to pass between them.  “I wanted this.”  She said.

“So do I,”  Natasha said.  “Now come on.  Time for you to have a sleep.  They can have some time to process it.”  She said and scooped me up, carrying me into the shared bedroom.  It was quite a while before I saw many of those men again.


	3. Natasha

I hadn’t expected the news to go down well.  These guys had taken precautions.  There were reasons they didn’t want children.  I had expected that when I went to bed in the common room I’d have woken up to at least one or two of the guys here with me.  Even if they weren’t really at the acceptance stage.  Just because they were supposed to love me and be worried about how I was doing too.

I think, honestly, if it wasn’t for Natasha, I would have booked in an abortion that same day.

I woke up to Wanda pressed tightly against my back still asleep and Natasha sitting up next to me with a coffee in her hand.  Hulk was in the room too, sitting silently watching us, like a big green guard dog.  I was about to say good morning to them when a wave of nausea crashed down on me, I think set off by Natasha’s coffee.  I jumped to my feet, startling Wanda awake and ran to the bathroom.  Hulk moved quickly to follow. The building had been made to accommodate him after a few incidents that had taken out various sections.  He followed me in and as gently as he could, pat my back as I threw up in the toilet.

“Elly, okay?” He rumbled, genuine concern in his voice.

“Yeah, big guy.  Just morning sickness.”  I said.

“Baby okay?”  He asked.

I threw up again and Natasha arrived, holding back my hair.  “Okay, Mishka.  I’ve got you.”  She soothed.

When I was sure I was done I washed my face and rinsed my mouth out before returning to bed.  “Good, girl.  You should rest.”  Natasha said getting back into bed with me and pulling the covers up.  Wanda had left the room, and her absence felt like a kick to the stomach.

“Maybe I should just terminate.  No one wants this.  I got this picture in my head of us all being super parents or something and it’s obviously a dumb pipe dream.  Better I not to drag it out.”  I said.

Hulk made a deep growl sound that was slightly threatening and startled me a little.  “Hulk want baby.  Hulk dad.”

“Please stop saying no one wants this.  I want this.  I won’t force you to go through with this if you don’t want to, but I want this.  If it was only you and me that did I’d leave with you and … I dunno… get a farm and try and raise the babies as a monogamous couple if that’s what it took.  It’s not just me though.  Hulk wants this.  Wanda wants this.  You aren’t alone.  If you want to have the baby, we’re here.  The others will be too.  Just give them some processing time.  They didn’t expect this at all.”

I groaned and pulled myself into a fetal position.  I had never felt so alone since I’d joined the group.  “I am processing too.  Why do they get to run away to process and I just have to wake up puking my guts up?”

“Biology, mishka,”  Natasha replied gently.

“Wanda left,”  I said.

“To get you something for your nausea.  Don’t think things like that about me.”  Wanda scolded as she carried in a tray.  She placed it carefully beside me before sitting down.  “This is a porridge made from millet seeds,”  She said pointing to the bowl.  “And this is ginger tea.”

“Thank you, Wanda.  I’m sorry I doubted you.”  I said and sat up taking a drink from the tea.  I couldn’t quite get my head around why Natasha and Wanda seemed so excited about this.

“You are still doubting me, cut it out,”  Wanda said, twisting her wrist so a small ball of light formed on her fingers and then flicking it at me, so it zapped my thigh.

“Ow, sorry.  I just don’t get it.  Why?  It’s not like you can’t have kids yourself.”  I argued.

“You are right, I can.  But it has not been something I’d considered properly.  No one ever brought it up.  I’m young.  It was a one-day thing.  But I love children.  I want to be a mother and I am excited about this.  I can’t wait to hold your baby.  Our baby.  This is going to change everything and I am excited about that change.”

I sighed and nodded my head.  “Okay.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, beautiful.  I understand that you’re dealing with a lot right now.”  Wanda said and kissed my cheek.  “Now eat.  You’ve gotta take care of yourself.”

I had a mouthful of the millet.  It was bland enough to help settle my stomach but not so bland that it was like eating cardboard.  “What about you, Tasha?”

“Okay, so…”  Natasha said and took a breath like she was steeling herself.

“So…”   I repeated.

“Remind me of what you know about my past.”

I frowned worried about where this was going and hated myself for making her have to go over it again.  “I know about the Red Room.  That they trained you telling you, you were going to be a ballerina.  That they brainwashed you and experimented on you like Bucky.  That they trained you to be assassins and to use sex when necessary.”

“Okay, what you don’t know is about a man named Nikolai,”  Natasha said.

“What about Nikolai?”

Natasha frowned and dropped her eyes like she was ashamed.  “I had been promised to him.  We were married.  I got, I was… we were…”

“Pregnant?”  I asked.

Nat closed her eyes and nodded her head slightly.  “Yes.  But what they did…”

I ran my hand over my stomach protectively as I watched this woman let down every wall and allow herself to be vulnerable.  A woman who was normally so together and strong.   A woman who used her strength and intimidation as a protective wall to stop herself from getting hurt.  It was a little scary.  “What happened?”

“I lost it.”  She said.  “And I found out afterward, that what they did to me, they created so much scar tissue and messed with my DNA so much, I’d never be able to carry a baby to term.”

I put my food aside and moved to her, wrapping her in my arms.  “I’m so sorry, Nat.”

She nuzzled into me and clung to me.  It was all I could do to not break down into tears.  All these years I had known her and I’d never seen her let herself be so fragile.

“I thought - I’d given up on the idea I’d ever get that.”  She murmured against my skin.

I ran my hands through her hair and down her back.  “And now you get to be a mom.”

“Yeah.  Now I get to be a mom.”  She agreed, and I felt her relax.  I’d just confirmed I’d keep it and we were going to do this and her body softened against me in relief.

“Will you come to the doctor with me?”  I asked.

“Of course I will,”  Nat said pulling back.  “Someone needs to take care of you.”

“Me too?”  Wanda asked.

“Yeah, you too.”  I agreed.

Wanda’s face lit up and she clapped her hands.  “Okay.  Yes.  Yay.”

“Hulk want to come too.  Hulk dad.”  Hulk said thumping himself on the chest.

I chuckled.  “We might have to wait and see if there is room for you in the room.”

Hulk nodded and let out a huff of breath.  “Hulk want to see baby.”

“I know.  If you can’t I’ll bring you a picture.”  I agreed.  Hulk nodded again and settled back into a sitting position.  “Now if only the others could get on board too.”

“Don’t worry.  They will.  There’s a lot of panic, but they just need to process.”  Wanda explained.

I nodded and let out a breath.  I hoped she was right.  I was going to do this for Natasha.  I wanted her to have this.  To get to shake off the last hold the Red Room had of her.  I wanted to see her being the protective helicopter mother I saw in her.  I wanted to be a mother with her.  I was scared.  I didn’t exactly have the best role models for parenting.  I knew I could do it with her and Wanda.  And the Hulk too, I suppose.  I just didn’t want to lose anyone because of a stupid accident.


	4. Steve

A week passed and I still hadn’t seen any of the other men.  It was like a ghost town in the common room and while it might have been possible to go track a lot of them down, Natasha had said that Clint had gone into his shut-off defensive mode where he hid in the vents a lot and Tony had given FRIDAY orders to keep me out of the engineering lab and penthouse again.

That hurt.  A lot.  I didn’t know how many more times he could do that to me and I’d be able to forgive him for it.

I kept telling myself, processing time.  They just needed to process and figure out exactly what they wanted.  It didn’t hurt less, but it certainly helped me from not circling the drain.  Besides, while Tony did lock himself away from me, he did also go about finding a doctor for me.  An expert in obstetrics was put onto staff just to look after me.  She was in the process of relocating and I just needed to wait for that before I had my first appointment.  So even though Tony had locked me out, he was still participating.  I would take that as a good sign.

I can’t say that the thought of terminating didn’t keep coming back to me.  Not that I wanted to but I just thought it would be better if we were going to do this they had the time to decide they wanted it beforehand.  Then I pictured what that would do to Natasha and Wanda and I just couldn’t.  Especially Nat.  I think Natasha would shut down if I chose that.  It’d be that last little thing to say she didn’t get to just be a regular person.  I know, I know, it’s not my job to give that to her, but I did want this baby.  If it was just me, Nat and Wanda so be it.  I had gone into this relationship being monogamous with Nat.  It would hurt to go back to that, but I’m sure we could be happy.

I mean there was Hulk too.  He was still around.  Bruce seemed to be just… gone.  Hulk was very excited though and spent a lot of time between my room and Bruce’s.  My bed was big, but not Hulk big and being in Bruce’s place just made me miss him.

I had taken to mostly just staying in my apartment.  Wanda was sleeping with me every night and it didn’t feel as much like a slap to the face.  At the end of the week, there was a knock at my door and when I answered it, I was faced with an extremely exhausted-looking Steve.

“Um, hey. You got a minute?”  His voice matched the dark circles under his eyes.

“Yeah, come in.  Is something wrong?”  I said standing back to let him in.  I felt a twinge of guilt like this was my fault that he looked like this, but I was mostly just glad to see him.  He had been quick to call the baby his when I announced I was pregnant.  I didn’t think this was an ‘I’m out’ talk.

“No, I mean.  Yes. I mean, no.  Maybe.”  He said coming in.  He looked at me helplessly and my heart broke for him a little.  I had never seen him so frazzled.  “I’m sorry. This isn’t helping.  I don’t know where to start.”

I guided him to the couch and got him to sit.  “You want some tea, honey?”

He nodded and slouched forward rubbing at the pad of his left thumb.  “Yeah.  That sounds good.”

I went and made him a pot of tea and brought it back on a tray pouring him a cup when I sat down beside him.  “So, what is it?  What’s the matter?”  I asked.

He picked up the cup and just held it in his large hands, looking into the reddish brew.  “I don’t know there’s a lot.  What day is it?  I can’t think straight, and I’m sure I’m going to say something wrong.”

“It’s about the pregnancy, right?”  I asked, a pit forming in my stomach.  “Do you not want to be a part of it?”

He put the cup down and pulled me into his arms.  “No, honey. No.”  He said, nuzzling against my neck.  “Where to start?  Where to start?”

I relaxed a little letting him hold me and looked up into the blue of his eyes.  “Maybe at the beginning.”

“Beginning. Right,”  He said and took a breath.  “So, we’ve talked about when I was little right?”

I obviously knew a bit.  He had been small and sick.  The list of conditions he suffered was long and most were debilitating.  His father had resented him.  Back then the idea of Eugenics was not just held by the Nazis.  It was popular in America too.  Steve was beaten by his father due to the man’s disgust that the could have such a sickly child.  “Yeah.  You were really sick.  And your dad …”

He shook his head.  “Okay, we haven’t talked about this then.”

“So, tell me.”

“We…”  Steve said, obviously searching for the right words.  “Um, we meaning Bucky and I.  We talked about them.  Not with each other obviously.  What we had back then, we didn’t exactly see it as permanent.  We pictured wives and maybe… they’d understand…”  He shook his head again.  “But I was always so sick, and I didn’t want to pass anything on. And then… Well…”

“So you do want kids?”

He sighed.  “Well, yes and no.”

“What’s the no?”  I asked now a little confused as to where he was going with this.  “You aren’t sick now.  I mean, it might not even be biologically your kid.”

He made a vague hand gesture like he was brushing that away.  “That doesn’t matter to me. Can you imagine a little super soldier? What kind of stress would that do to your body?  Raising the kid?  The no… The no is about the world.”

“What about the world?”  I asked.

“It’s this absolute shit show.  I went down and there were bullies and intolerance.  And I come back up and there are bullies and intolerance. I thought it’d be better.”

I rubbed his arm.  I knew he still struggled with that.  The constant need to fight the same fight over and over was exhausting for him.  “Okay… so you only wanted kids when we lived in a Utopia?”

“Well, maybe just one where I don’t have to worry that they’re going to be attacked by aliens. Or that their city is going to float into the sky.”  He explained.

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.  “So no new people until then?”

“That’s how I would have preferred it at least.”

“Okay…”  I took a breath and let it out slowly.  “I don’t… I don’t know what this means for us.  This baby is on its way.”

“No, this one is different.”  He said.  “I’d have liked to have it planned, and all the details worked out.  But that’s not the reality.”

I shook my head and slumped a little, the guilt inside me bubbling up again.  I shouldn’t be forcing these people to be parents.  “I’m sorry.”

“No.  No.  It’s not your fault, sweetheart.”  He said wrapping his arms around me and kissing me on top of the head.  “It’s just… what I’ve been processing.  I keep thinking about what can I do now to get it there.  I need to make the world as safe as it can be before they get here.  I just… I need them to be safe.”  I nuzzled in against him and nodded my head.  “There’s more… Bucky…”

I looked up at him, my eyes glistening with the start of tears.  “What about him?”

“Well, he’s sorta my Bucky.  But he’s this new Bucky.  And the arm.”

I dropped my gazed and sighed.  I hadn’t even considered that.  Bucky must be a complete mess right now.  It had taken him so long to be comfortable having me in the bed with him, he still never quite was if we were alone.  Now he had to deal with a tiny fragile baby.  “Oh.  I get it.”

“Do you?”

“He thinks he’s gonna hurt them.”

Steve nodded sadly.  “Yeah.”

“You know he’s not though, right?  That’s not him.”  I said looking back up at Steve.

“I know that. But he doesn’t, and he’s not dealing.”  He explained.

I leaned in against him again, letting him support my weight.  “I’m really sorry, Steve.  I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know. I’m not blaming you.”  He said.  “It’s not anyone’s fault.  I just need to support him as he figures it out.”

“It’s not fair that he has to deal with this.  I wish he could see himself how he really is.”

“Me too. But he can’t and right now he’s isolating.”  He said, rubbing my arm.

“What do you want to do?”  I asked.   “I mean… You look exhausted.  How do you need to handle this that you’re okay?  Do you need to step away while you help Bucky come to terms with it?  Do you want to try and timeshare?  Do you want to just do parts, like doctors appointments?  Do you want me to come and talk to Bucky too?”

“No, he’ll shut down more,”  Steve said.  “I want to be here.  I am still wrapping my head about this, but this baby is happening and I want it.  I want to be here.  No matter who is actually the father.”

“I want you to be here too.  You need to take care of you too.”  I leaned up and kissed his jaw.  “I’m still waiting to hear about my first doctor’s appointment. You want to come see them with me when I have one?”

“Yes, I wouldn’t miss it.”  He assured me, giving me a little squeeze around the waist.

I sighed in relief and settled back against him, playing with his hand.  “You think it will work out?  It’s just been me, Wanda, Nat, and Hulk since I told everyone.”

“Yeah.”  He said.  “Give it time. We can be squirrelly.”

I nodded.  “It’s hard because I don’t get to hide from this.  I thought you’d all freak but I didn’t think you’d all run.”

“Sorry, honey.”

“Me too. Never gonna have sex again.”  I said firmly.

“You say that now…”  Steve teased, giving my side a squeeze.

“Maybe with Nat and Wanda.  Can’t get pregnant like that.”

He ran his fingers up my side and under my breasts.  “You sure about that?”

“Steve!”  I squealed.  My breasts had been really tender and even that slight touch and sent little currents running through me.

“What?  I’m not doing anything.”  He teased leaning down and ghosting his lips over my neck.

My skin prickled and I turned so I was kneeling, facing him.  “Why?  Why are you doing this to me?”

“Can’t get pregnant if you’re already pregnant.”  He joked.

I shrugged and nodded my head.  “I guess you have a point.”

“I know what I’m talking about.”  He said and pulled me into a deep kiss.

I climbed into his lap and returned the kiss, matching his passion.  It was slow and deep and full of need.  Not just for sex, but connection and release.  We needed to be there for each other.  To know that even if he couldn’t always be there, I was still his and he was still mine.

His hands ran up my back and bunched in my hair as I ran mine through his, the soft smacking of our lips were joined by our hums of pleasure.  He pulled my shirt up over my head and unfastened my bra as I quickly unbuttoned his and pushed it down his arms.

When he latched onto my breast I mewled loudly and threw my head back, a sudden jolt running straight to my core.  He smirked and sucked, pressing his teeth down on my nipple.  A dull ache built in my breast, which had the converse effect of making the rest of me tingle.  I moaned and ground my hips down against his hardening cock, my pussy already soaking in anticipation of more.

He lifted me and lay me down on the couch, first pulling down my pants and then moving between them.  “You.  Definitely.  Sure.  You.  Don’t.  Want.  Any.  More.  Sex?”  He asked.  Each word dotted with a kiss down my stomach.

“Okay.  I take it back.”  I whined, lifting my hips up.

He chuckled and swiped his tongue up my pussy.  “Mmm…”  He hummed.  “You taste different, you know that?”

I shook my head and pulled in a ragged breath as a shiver ran up my spine.

He sucked on my clit and pushed two fingers into my cunt, slowly fucking me with them before he curled them and dragged his fingertips over my internal walls.  I gasped and bucked my hips up and he pulled his fingers free and offered them to me.  I pulled them into my mouth, sucking them clean as he watched through lust darkened eyes.

He was right it was different.  A little muskier and slightly stronger-tasting.  I hummed and I licked myself from his fingers and he dipped his head back down between my legs.

Steve is very good at learning exactly how people tick.  He seemed to get off on knowing all the exact right buttons to push to drag things out or send them over.  Right now he put all his focus on sending me over as quickly as he could.  His tongue made little patterns over my clit.  Pressing hard to barely tickling it, so I couldn’t get used to any one thing.  His fingers touched on my g-spot immediately and he was merciless with them.  Pressing them and dragging them over my g-spot and making my loose complete control of myself.  I bucked under him and my legs trembled.  The sounds I made were loud and animalistic and completely involuntary.

With a sudden surge, I came, gushing on him.  He sat up rubbing my clit through it and looking pretty pleased with himself.

“Fuck.”  I sighed as little shivers from my orgasm ran through me.  “God, I needed that.”

“Mmm… I know.”  He hummed and moved back over me.  “And I think we might both need this.”  He added sinking his cock slowly into me.  I dug my fingers into his broad shoulders looking right into his eyes as he stretched and filled me.

“Oh, god, Steve.” I moaned.

“Mmm… I know.”  He said and began to thrust.

Each of his movements was slow and deep and pushed me down into the couch.  We started to kiss again and I dragged my nails down his back and dig them into his ass rolling my hips up to meet him.

This was more than just sex.  It was reassurance and love and a need for each other.  We were connecting as a couple.  We were part of a bigger group and that might mean we weren’t always available to each other but we were always here for each other.  I came for a second time and then a third.  Each one deep and intense but without the urgency of the first.  On the forth I arched up under him and dug my fingers into his back, moaning his name.  He jerked suddenly forward and came, spilling inside me.

He rolled off and we lay side by side on the couch, our limbs tangled together.  “I love you, you know?”  He whispered.  “I will make this work.  I promise.”

“I know,”  I said humming and nuzzling under his neck.  He was a good man and this was a weird situation but I knew I had him.  That even if it did take a whole for everyone to come to, we were family and we’d work this out.


	5. The Most Fertile Person in the World

It was only a few days later that the OBGyn that Tony had arranged was set up in the Tower and I had my first appointment.  Her name was Doctor Schroeder and apparently she was the best in the city and Tony was paying so that by the time of the babies due date, I would be her only patient.

“Mister Stark gave me a rundown on what’s happened.  So we might start by getting your birth control out.  But first.  Do you have any questions?”  She said as Steve, Wanda, Natasha and I all sat in her exam room.  I was sitting in one of those hospital gowns and nothing else.  I still hadn’t seen the others.  Steve had said Sam had gone to see his family.  Natasha assured me Clint was reading because he needed to get his head around the idea he was going to be a parent.  Hulk was still around which meant Bruce was not.  Bucky was still isolating as was Tony.  Except where Steve saw Bucky every day, no one had seen Tony at all.

“What are the odds of this happening?”  Steve asked as Wanda gave my hand a squeeze.

“The birth control Doctor Cooper was on was 99% percent effective.  They say for every 1000 women on it one gets pregnant every three years.  On top of the fact that you men were all on a birth control developed by doctor Banner?  Now I have no idea how effective it was because there was a lack of clinical trials but I would say you have a 1 in 2000 chance of this happening really.  That baby apparently really really wanted to exist.”  Doctor Schroeder explained.  I didn’t know if I felt better or worse hearing that.  Like if it was the most unlucky thing to happen or maybe I was really lucky.

“And it’s healthy?”  Steve asked.

“We’ll need to take a look, but birth control like Doctor Coopers just stops ovulation, it happened anyway.  I looked at the kind you are on, and it’s similar but with sperm production.”  She answered.  “Basically you have the guys that are the absolute strongest competitors coming together.  It won’t have affected their health.”

The problem was that wasn’t the only thing we had to worry about.  I looked at Steve and took a breath.  “What - Do you know what will happen if it’s - if Steve or Bucky or Bruce are the parent?”  I asked.

She sighed.  “That I can’t tell you.  We will monitor things carefully.  As you know we can narrow it down if you want, so we know if we have anything extra to be concerned about.”

“I’m here,”  Steve said.  “You can take a sample - a small sample - for comparisons.”

“I thought you didn’t want to know?”  I said.

“If there is an issue with health, for the sake of your sanity.  We should do it.” He said rubbing my leg.  “But I do not want to know. That baby will be all of ours, no matter the parentage.”

“Okay.  Well, how about this, I’ll work out if the baby is genetically either yours, Sergeant Barnes, or Doctor Banner’s when he returns, and then I’ll know if there’s something to keep an eye on, but I won’t pass that along unless I have to?”  She suggested.

Steve gave a curt nod.  “I agree to these terms.”

“Alright.  If there’s nothing else for the moment we’ll start by taking the birth control out.  Then I’ll take some blood samples and then we can take a look.  See who we’re dealing with in there.”  She said.

“I’m good if you are,”  Nat said to me.  I got up on the examination chair and Wanda sat beside me holding my arm as Doctor Schroeder took blood samples, gave me a local anesthetic and took out the implant before sewing it up with paper stitches and putting gauze over it.

She then took a few vials of blood from Steve and explained that the earliest she could do paternity was eight weeks and that she would make a plan for that based on how far along I was now.

“Okay,”  She said after she’d cleaned everything away and brought the ultrasound machine closer.  “Are we ready to see the baby?”  We all nodded in agreement.  “Elly, I need you to lie back and spread your legs.”  She said adjusting the chair back and lying a blanket over me.  Wanda took my hand as Doctor Schroeder prepared the probe.  “This is going to be a little uncomfortable.”  She said and inserted the probe.  I winced.  For such a tiny thing, it pinched, that’s for sure.  She shifted it around inside me at weird angles that were far from pleasant feeling.  Wanda seemed to send a calming energy into me, though, and I felt her tell me she was right there, clear as if she said it out loud.

“You’re doing great, Elly.  I know this isn’t fun.  But look, can you see this funny little peanut shape.  That’s your baby.”  She said.

I looked up at the screen and saw what looked like two large black spaces in a sea of white static.  To the bottom of each was a small kidney bean shaped thing with a little fluttering spot right in the middle of it.  I felt the sudden urge to cry and I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at.  “But there’s two,”  I said.

“That’s because there are two of them.  Can you see the flutter?”  She said circling the spots in the middle of the kidney beans.  “That’s their heartbeats.  You are actually having twins.”

“Twins?”  Wanda asked, her voice slightly shaky.  I knew this was big for her, being a twin herself and losing her brother.  “We’re having twins?”

“You are,”  She said moving the probe around a little.  “It looks like they are fraternal too which has just blown your odds through the roof to astronomical levels.  It also makes the paternity a little more complicated.”

I stared blankly at the screen.  How could this be happening?  I had to be the most fertile person in the world.  If the other’s freaked out the way they had been about one, they were going to completely cut and run with two.

“Did you just say, that they could have two different dads?”  Natasha asked, looking up at the screen.

“It’s certainly possible.  It really depends on what happened here that made two different birth controls ineffective.  Did one of you just forget to take it around the time her cycle rejected hers?  Or do we have a case of two different lucky swimmers from two different people?”  She said as she started taking measurements.  “We’ll definitely have to keep a close eye on them until we figure this out.  If you have one supersoldier and one baseline human their development rates could be drastically different or the super could steal the nutrients from the other.  That isn’t uncommon with twins.”

“So, this is going to make things more difficult?”  Steve asked.   He looked a little like a deer in headlights.  I recognized that look of guilt on his face. I could only imagine that he thought one of them was his and it was going to cause issues.

“Twins never make it easier.”  She said jokingly.  “We will work this out though.  I promise.  If the blood tests aren’t conclusive there are other options.  We’ll monitor things closely either way.”

“Twins…”  Wanda said, her hand going to my stomach.

Doctor Schroeder did a few more measurements and looked at me.   “I would put them at seven weeks.  Does that sound right?”

I nodded, of course, they were.  “Right when Thor was here.”

She shook her head and let out a laugh.  “So potential demigods too.  You’re really making me earn my money here.”  She said.  “Would you like to hear their heartbeats?”

“Yes, we do,”  Natasha said before any of the rest of us had a chance.

She flicked a switch and the room is filled with a loud swoosh swoosh sound.  All four of our faces lit up at the sound.  There was something about hearing it that made it very real and not just this abstract ‘scary thing’.  “That’s their hearts.  Going right in the zone we want them.  They look very healthy.”

“We’re gonna have twins, El,”  Wanda said squeezing my hand.

“I know.  Maybe it will be a boy and a girl like you and Pietro.”  I said.

I didn’t think Wanda’s smile could get any bigger but it did right then.  “Maybe.”

Doctor Schroeder moved the probe around a little more before removing it.  “We’re done.  Did you want a print out of the babies?”

“Yes.  A couple please.”  I say thinking about how the Hulk would want one.

Doctor Schroeder pushed a button on the machine and it began to whir as it printed out the pictures.   “Keep that wound clean.  I’ll need to take more blood in a couple of weeks for the DNA, and then we’ll have another appointment in say, 4 weeks to see how they’re developing.  I’ll need to see Sgt Barnes for a blood test.  I know Doctor Banner isn’t exactly here with us right now do you think the Hulk will let me take blood?”

“I think it’d be best if you let me try and do that,”  Natasha said.

“Thank you.  Given that Thor is a potential biological parent here if there is any way you can get a blood sample from him too.  Otherwise, if it’s not one of the three of you, I’ll need to test everyone to rule him out.”  She said as I began to dress in my regular clothes.

“We’ll take care of it,”  Nat assured her.

“Elly, here is a list of things you should be taking and avoiding.  Plus some birthing options.”  She said holding up a packet and giving it to Wanda.  “Are there any other questions?”  Wanda looked back at me and shook her head.  “Well, it was nice to see you.  I’m on call now, so if you need me for anything don’t hesitate.”

I finished getting dressed and the four of us headed back out to the elevator.  “Are you hungry, El?”  Wanda asked.

“Yeah, a little,”  I said not fully paying attention.  “Twins…”

“I’ll make you something.”  She said.

“Thanks.  I guess… I guess I have more news to give people.”  I said.

“I’m going to go get that sample from Hulk,”  Natasha said.  “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah.  I will be.  You should take one of the pictures to him,”  I said tearing off one of the ultrasound pictures and giving it to her.  “He wanted to see, so it might help keep him calm.  Tell him it’s twins and he can come talk to them after if he wants.”

“Okay,”  Nat said taking it.  “I’ll do that.”

“Thank you, Tasha.  Thanks for coming with me.”

She kissed my cheek as the elevator stopped on Bruce’s floor.  “Of course, honey.  I’m going to talk to Clint too. And then I’ll be back up.”

She got off and the doors closed as we traveled up to the common floor.  Almost as soon as the doors closed, I felt an overwhelming urge to cry.  It had been bad enough telling everyone that it was one.  Now I had to do it again and tell them there was going to be two.  I turned to Steve and fell against him hiding my face in his chest.  He wrapped his arms around me and stroked my hair  “It’s okay, El.  I’ve got you.”  He said, in his deep rich voice.

“Thank you.  I can’t believe it’s twins.  I feel like Loki is messing with us or something.”  I said through a shaky voice.  Only barely keeping the tears in.

“Well, we can ask Thor.”  He said gently.

“Yeah.  I guess so.  Can Loki do that?  Just mess with our birth control?”

He shrugged.  “I don’t know, sweetheart.”

The elevator stopped and I pulled away from him taking out the paperwork from the packet to distract myself with as Wanda went to the kitchen.  “There are a few things to get,”  I said sitting down.

“I can handle that if you like.”  He said.

I shrugged.  “I’ll just add them to FRIDAY’s list.  It can come in the next delivery.”

“Okay.  That should work.”  He said sitting down beside me.

I ran my hands over my stomach and looked down at it.  “There are two people in there,”  I said.  “I have 3 times as many skeletons as most people.”

He shook his head and stifled a laugh.  “You’re such a dork.”  His hand went to my stomach and he linked his fingers with mine.  “They’re going to be very loved and well cared for.  You don’t have to worry.”

“Yeah.  I’m gonna get really huge.”

“Is there a point to that, El?”  He asked.

“Just … I don’t know.  What if…  And then after…”

He kissed my temple.  “Use your words, sweetheart.”

“What if no one wants to be with me after this?”

“Oh, sweetheart.”

The tears came then.  Fat drops running down my cheeks.  “Well?  I mean even taking out the fact I’m going to be massive, I apparently am the most fertile person in the planet.”

“Elly,”  He said pulling me into his arms.  “We’re gonna deal with this. You’ve got us.  Forever.”

“What if I’m not good at this?  I didn’t exactly have very good role models.”

“Neither did I,”  He said.  “Come on, honey.  You need to just let yourself process this.  I know it hasn’t exactly gone smoothly, but this is good news.”

“What are we going to tell the others?”  I asked.  “How am I going to tell them if they won’t even come near me?”

“They will.  They love you, honey.  Everyone loves you.  They don’t mean to be hurting you like this.”  He assured me.  “When they’re ready to hear you can tell them.”

“How will I even know they’re ready?”  I asked.

He kissed the top of my head.  “They’ll come to you. Don’t worry.”


	6. Wanda

Wanda was my rock for the next few days as Natasha and Steve rounded up people for blood tests and Steve spent his time between Avengers stuff, Bucky and me. She was there every morning holding my hair as I threw up. She cuddled up with me at night. She made sure I was eating enough and if I threw something up right away, she’d try again with something new until I kept it down again.

I don’t exactly know why she had taken to this as strongly as she had. It wasn’t like she had ever brought up wanting to be a mother. She could have had her own. Some people just are though, even before they have kids, and Wanda had always been that kind of person. I guess the moment she saw I was pregnant it just felt right to her.

The morning sickness was getting bad too. So on mornings I’d wake up and rush straight to the bathroom she’d be there, holding my hair and rubbing my back.

“The ginger pills do not seem to be doing much,” She said as she sat behind me rubbing my back. “Maybe we should contact Doctor Schroeder and ask her if there is something else you can take.”

“It works after I take it but I don’t take it in the middle of the night,” I say as I rested my head on my arms and breathed heavily, waiting for the nausea to pass completely.

“My poor, pirano.” She said. “You want to try and eat. I can make millet if your stomach is really off. Perhaps with ginger tea.”

I nodded slowly and got up, flushing the toilet. “Yeah. I should probably shower. I have work.”

“You know Tony won’t care if you don’t go in.” She reasoned.

“And you know I don’t want to be paid to be Tony’s girlfriend,” I replied and then frowned. “I guess he’d be paying me to just be your girlfriend now though.”

She put her arm around my waist and rubbing my stomach. “He’ll be back.”

“I hope so.”

She sighed and let me go, turning on the shower. “I can hear them all you know. They want to be here with you. They are all angry at themselves for being as scared as they are. It’s just…” She turned back to me and tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Most of them haven’t exactly had the best role models for what being a parent is.”

“Well, I haven’t either, Wanda. The difference is I don’t get to run from it or hide in my lab while I figure out how to do it. I gave them an out. No one took it.”

“Please don’t yell at me.” She said pulling back. “I’m still here.”

I sighed and started stripping off my clothes. “I’m sorry. I know. I just miss them and I don’t feel like this is my home anymore. I keep thinking it would be better if I moved out.”

“I know. I wish you would stop that.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry, Wanda.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh… it’s okay. You need to be easy on yourself too. You have to come to terms with it too.” She said pulling me into her arms. I made myself as small as I could, curling up into her. “Have your shower. I’ll have food ready for you when you get out.”

I showered, managing to not throw up again when the scent of the shampoo overwhelmed me. I changed into comfortable clothes and tied my hair back in a loose ponytail and came out to the living room. Wanda brought me out a bowl of warm millet and a hot ginger tea. I curled up against her as I ate slowly.

“What do you want them to be, Wanda?” I asked completely out of the blue. I knew it wouldn’t matter. She knew I had been thinking about genders and names. I’m sure my mind was screaming about it.

“I would like a boy and a girl. But I might be slightly biased towards that.” She said, caressing her fingers over my stomach.

“That would be balanced,” I said.

“Sam wants a boy.” She said.

“He does?” I asked.

She smiled. “Yes. He wants to name them Riley too. He’d never ask, but he asked me if he thought the name would work for a boy or a girl.”

“I wish he’d talk to me,” I said.

“Yes, I know. He’ll be home soon. He’s just … his sister is berating him and it’s making him overthink. She wants him to find out if it’s his and if it is, she says he needs to marry you. I think it’s making him doubt himself a little. He was raised by a pastor. His family do not understand and he wants them to. He wants them to be in the babies life.”

I frowned. He was going to get back and find out it was twins. What if one was his and one wasn’t? How would she take that news?

“Don’t worry about Sam. He’ll work it out.” She said and kissed my head. “I can tell you what the other’s want if you like. Will that help?”

“Yes. I think it will.”

“Well I can’t hear Bruce, but Hulk wants one of each. Steve actually truly doesn’t mind. Clint wants girls. Natasha doesn’t mind but likes the idea of at least one being a girl. Bucky wants a girl. Tony wants a boy.”

I smiled. It was a good sign at least. I wondered if any of them had considered names besides Sam. “He really wanted to name them after Riley?”

“Yeah. That’s what he said to me. He said not to tell you though.” She said.

“I’m glad you did,” I said and leaned back and kissed her cheek. “It helped.”

“I can see that.” She said with a smile.

I didn’t say anything for a while, I just sat pressed against her, slowly sipping the tea and thinking about how Sam wanted to name one of the children after his ex-boyfriend and how so many. “Wanda?”

“Yes, El?”

“If I have a boy... do you wanna ... No. You probably want to save that for one of your own kids. Never mind.”

I didn’t even need to ask the question really. My garbled words weren’t enough to drown out the fact I had been thinking it might be nice to name one after her brother.

She gasped and her hand went to her mouth. “You would… you would do that?”

“If one of them is a boy. Not if you don't want me to.”

She blinked a few times as her eyes started to fill with tears and she pulled me into a tight hug, her powers catching the mug in my hand and moving it to the coffee table in a cloud of pink light before it spilled over both of us. I nuzzled into her neck and just enjoyed being in her arms.

“If you wanted to, and they all agreed.” She said. “Then yes.”

“I want to,” I whispered.

“Okay then. If it’s a boy and everyone agrees, Pietro.” She said and pressed her lips to the top of my head.

I ran my hands over my stomach. “Pietro,” I said quietly. I didn’t even have any idea what I was having, but having a name, even a potential one, somehow made it feel more real.

“I love you, Elly.” She said, pushing that feeling into me. It made me feel warm and … well good. Like a dark cloud had suddenly lifted.

“I love you too,” I said and turned in her arms, kissing her neck.

She chuckled and wrapped her arms around me and rolling her hips under me. “What are you doing there. I thought you were feeling sick?”

“I was. Now I’m feeling this.” I replied as my hands trailed up her sides.

“Being pregnant sounds weird.” She said and kissed me deeply.

We kissed slowly, taking our time to just enjoy the intimacy of it. I shifted leg between hers and she raised her own so each roll of our hips meant our pussy ground against the other’s thigh.

The pregnancy hormones were definitely messing with me. All the extra estrogen and progesterone made me on edge and I was wet by the first kiss. By the time we moved on to shedding our clothes, I was dripping for her.

I started to kiss down her body and she cupped my cheek shaking her head. “I want to go down on you.” She said.

“But I wanna …” I whined.

She started laughing and rolled us over so I was on my back. “So demanding.” She teased. “I wonder how we can solve that?”

I smirked at her and she turned, straddling my face as she dropped down and planted a large open mouth kiss on my pussy. I did the same to her, swirling my tongue around so that as she created a warm tingle that first built in my cunt and slowly spread out, her own arousal filled my mouth with her sweet acidic juices.

We took our time to savor each other. The moans we made were both from the pleasure spreading through us and the taste on our lips. They got louder as we went. Wanda’s muscles clenched and trembled as I brought her closer to orgasm. She could feel what I was feeling too, so not only did she know exactly what to do to get me off, that increased her own experience. Soon she was quivering sitting right on the edge of orgasm.

I pushed my fingers inside her and stroked them over her walls, focusing on the spongy surface of her g-spot and making her whole body shudder above me. 

She seized up and came, crying out. “Oh god, Elly.” She mewled as she held herself up above me.

“That’s it, beautiful.” I hummed and drank her up as her fluids ran from her.

She took a moment, breathing heavily as she regained control and her mouth was back on me again. She plunged two fingers into my pussy and began fucking me with them. Each thrust of her hand and twist of her wrists made her fingers drag over my g-spot and sent jolts running through me.

I focused on her as best I could, working my fingers inside her as I sucked and nipped at her clit. I came suddenly, arching up under her. I think a combination of feeling how my orgasm affected me and the way I worked her cunt sent her over, because as I came, so did she. Shuddering above me.

She crawled off on top of me and I moved in beside her, curling up against her. “Now I feel better.” I sighed.

She giggled and kissed me. “Don’t you need to be at work?” She asked, pulling back and tucking my hair behind my ear.

“I’m sure Tony won’t mind.” I hummed and closed my eyes, relaxing against her.


	7. Sam

As my pregnancy progressed the morning sickness got worse.  I don’t know if that’s normal with twins or if the stress of everyone just noping out of ever speaking to me again was adding to it.

I started becoming hyper-focused on what I would do if the others didn’t come around.  Natasha, Wanda, and Steve wanted to be part of it but I couldn’t figure out how that would work if no one else did.  Steve wasn’t going to choose me over Bucky nor would I make him.  Natasha was the same with Clint.  Wanda might move in but could I stay here in the Tower if most of the people here didn’t want a kid?  If I did stay where would the baby go?  I had a one bedroom apartment.

I began sorting through my wardrobe under the premise that maybe the wardrobe was big enough to use as a nursery.  It was stupid really.  It didn’t even have windows, but it was large and if I downsized I could put in a crib.

I was also showing now.  Not a lot, but none of my jeans buttoned up.  So I started by putting away clothes that I wasn’t going to be able to wear for another year at least.

There was a soft knock on the door and I opened it to see Sam.

“Sammy?  Why are you knocking?”  I asked slightly confused and on the edge of being relieved to see him, but also worried that he knocked because he was about to tell me something I didn’t want to hear.

“FRIDAY said you’d be here. I wasn’t, I don’t know…”  He said running his hands over his head.  He looked tired, the way he did after a long mission.

I stepped out of the way to let him in.  “I was just sorting out my clothes.  My jeans don’t button up anymore.”

He reached forward to touch me and then quickly withdrew his hand.  “You look good.”

“You can touch.  I don’t mind.  You won’t feel them though.  It’s still just little twitches only I can feel.  Wanda is really annoyed.”  I said poking my stomach.

“I didn’t think… I haven’t been here.”  He said.

“I know… but you had things to deal with.”  I said with a small shrug.  “Come in.  I missed you.”

He stepped inside and walked to the couch though he didn’t take a seat.  “I’m sorry.”

I closed the door and came over to him, moving in for a hug.  “You didn’t ask for this.  You had to figure things out.”

“I’m getting there.”  He said, his arms closing around me.  “I should have been there for you though. You didn’t ask for this either.”

“Are you here now?”  I asked.

He nodded breathing me in for a moment.  “Yes.  I needed… Can we sit?”

I nodded and sat next to him and he took both of my hands in his.  “My family are really religious, El.  I never told them about this.  They knew I wasn’t straight because of Riley.  They thought I was gay and I never corrected them.  It was enough that they could find it in their heart to accept that about me.  Then this all came out thanks to Tony and they were so mad at me.  They could accept I was gay if I still fit the convention of monogamy.  The fact I was bi, and poly.  They said I was going straight to hell and every time I talked to them, they told me I had to stop living this life of sin.  That if I was bisexual I could choose to be with a woman.  That I could choose who to love.  I needed to settle down and have kids.”  He let out a breath and looked up at me.  “I could deal with it when it was just us.  Everyone here is from such messed up families or they don’t have them at all anymore, it wasn’t such a big deal that they felt that way about my relationship.  But if we’re having kids, I want them in their lives, but not if they’re gonna be like that.”

“Did you get through to them?”  I asked.

He nodded as his thumbs ran over the back of my hands.  “Yeah.  I think.  I mean… they wanted me to find out whose baby it was and if it was mine to marry you.  I said it was my baby no matter what and this was their time to choose.  Either they could be a positive part of their niece or nephew’s lives or they wouldn’t be part of any of our lives.  They still don’t like it but as long as they can accept this is how it is, that’s fine with me.”

“I’m sorry,”  I said and leaned in pressing my cheek against his chest.  I wish you would have talked to me though.  I’ve been so alone.”

He pulled me a little closer and his fingers brushed over my stomach.  “I know.  I’m sorry.  That wasn’t fair of me.  I just… I didn’t expect this to be the way my life went.  I had to sort through it.  I should have been better.  I am here now.”

“Well then,”  I said sitting back.  “You might want to brace yourself.”

“What?”  He asked a slight hint of panic to his voice.

“It’s twins,”  I said.  “That’s why I’m showing so early.”

Sam blinked at me a few times and when he spoke his voice came out in a monotone.  “Okay.”

“The doctor… she said they’re fraternal.  And there’s a chance they could biologically have different fathers.  Steve’s pretty adamant we don’t find out who they are.”  I explained.

“They could be…”  He said, blankly.  “Okay.”

“You okay?”

“Twins.”  He repeated like he was still processing it all.

“Yeah,”  I said.  “Are you out again?”

He gave me a look like I was being an idiot and I pulled back from him.  “What?  That’s something I’m not supposed to think?  I haven’t seen you for a month.”

“Okay.  I suppose it’s fair.”

“Do you know how hard this has been for me?”  The pain and hurt I’d been feeling bubbling over.  “Aside from Nat, Wanda, Steve, and Hulk everyone has been avoiding me.  I’m starting to wonder if we’ll even get Bruce back at this point.  I’ve been throwing up at least twice a day.  I used to work in a lab with Bruce and Tony.  Now there is no Bruce and Tony has locked himself in the engineering lab again and I’ve been denied access.  I’m going to have twins and it wasn’t exactly like I planned this either.  You know my first thought was when that pregnancy test was positive?  I thought ‘I’ll go get an abortion and not tell anyone and then they won’t be mad at me’.  I reacted like I would have when I was living with my abusive parents, instead of in a relationship with people who are supposed to love me.”

“Honey,”  He said reaching for me, but I pulled back.  I didn’t want him to comfort me yet.  I wanted to be angry and for him to hear it.

“I know that this is hard to come to terms with.  I’ve been struggling with it myself but I didn’t get the luxury of running from it.  I don’t get to go out flying while I process my feelings.  I just get to wake up have the smell of my shampoo make me throw up.  Hope that Nat’s drunk her coffee before I get out of the shower or that will make me throw up too.  Watch as my jeans get too small for me and then spend the day alone in my lab.”

“Honey,”  He repeated.

“What?  You’re gonna patronize me now?”  I asked.

“That not what I was doing.”  He argued.

“Then please can you talk to me?  Say how you’re feeling?  Reassure me or something here?”

“How I’m feeling?”

“Yes.  We’re in a relationship, aren’t we?  We’re supposed to be honest with each other and trust each other.”  I said, my frustration with him now getting to me.  I felt like I was talking to a wall and right at that moment, I wished he hadn’t come back at all.

“Right.  Yes.”

I sighed.  “You need time.  You can just - “ I waved at the door.

“No,” He said.

“Then say something then!”  I yelled.

He looked like I hit him and then pulled me into his arms.  “I’m sorry.”  He whispered.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just… twins.  Do you need a blood sample or something?”

“Um… If my doctor hasn’t asked for one or doesn’t ask for one then you’re probably okay.  Unless you specifically want to know, but then there will probably be a tell if either of them is yours right?”

He chuckled.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. They’re my kids, Elly.”  He said nuzzling into me and putting his hand on my stomach.  “I may not get everything right, but I’m here.  I promise.”

“What if they’re Thor’s and we get a repeat Thor/Loki thing happen?”  I sighed.

He leaned his cheek against the top of my head.  “I think we can do a better job than that.”

“I hope so, but I don’t exactly know what I’m doing,”  I said.

“Neither do I, but still, I think we’ll be better than that.”

“I do want this though.”

“And you’ll be great.  Trust me, El.  You’re one of the most nurturing, patient people I know.”  He said.  “And we’ve got you.”

“Do you want to see them?”  I asked looking up at him.

“Can I?”

He followed me to the fridge and grabbed him the print out of the babies and showed him.  “This weird little blob is one,”  I said pointing at one of the babies, and then moved my finger to the other.  “And this weird little blob is the other.”

“Twins.”  He said again.  “And you’re what?  Eleven weeks.”

“Closer to ten.”

He smiled and put the picture down.  “I’m so sorry, Elise.  I’m sorry I ran and you’ve felt so alone.  We’ll figure this all out.”

I leaned in against him again and he kissed me slowly and deeply, his hands going to my jaw.  “I missed you so much, Sammy.”

“I know.  I missed you too, princess.”  He breathed.

I ran my fingers down his chest and over his stomach, tracing the lines of his muscles.  He smiled down at me and ducked his head forward like he was going to kiss me before pulling back.  “What’s wrong?”  I asked.

“Just… do you want to?”  He asked.

I nodded and he kissed me again, hungrily.  The tension we’d been feeling evaporating as we moved our lips against each other’s.  He ground into me, pushing me against the counter.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him take control.  Needing that from him.  Needing him to show me how he still wanted me.

I could feel him hardening against my pussy and I just wanted more.  I missed him.  He had always been a rock for me.  Like one of my closest friends as well as my lover.  He was always there for me and him leaving had felt like a fundamental part of my world was gone.

I shimmied out of my panties and he lifted me up and put me on the counter.  We continued to kiss.  My lips going numb from it. As I felt myself getting wetter in anticipation I fumbled to unfasten his pants.  He pulled me right to the edge of the counter and with a thrust he was inside me.  I gasped and threw my head back as I clenched around his cock.  His hand went to my jaw and caressed down my throat, tilting my head back to him, so he could ghost his lips over mine.

“Did you miss this, princess?”  He said as he thrust into me.  He moved in this slow and deliberate way.  Pulling out most of the way and then slamming hard back in.

“God, yes.  I missed it.  Please don’t leave me again.” I pleaded, wrapping my legs around his waist.

“Don’t worry.  I’m not going anywhere.”  He said and kissed me hard.

He kept moving in that slow deliberate way and I rolled my hips with him. We kissed constantly.  My lips grew puffy and numb from it and the world around us seemed to cease to exist.  His thumb came to my clit, making the mild buzz that seemed to be swirling through me, feel like a strong electrical current.

I moaned against his lips and dug my fingers into his back.  My body stiffened against his and I broke the kiss with a cry as I came, my back arching and my head rolling back.

Sam held me in place as he moved faster.  With a sudden jerk forward he came, his cock pulsing inside me as he released.

He pulled out panting and for a moment seemed to admire his handiwork before helping me off the bench.  “Let’s go get cleaned up and then I’ll help you with your clothes.”  He said.

I picked up my panties and for the first time in a long time, I felt hopeful.  One back.  Just four more to go.


	8. Clint

The next month, I was a little bit of a roller coaster. My morning sickness got really bad. I was throwing up multiple times a day and barely able to keep things down. I still hadn’t even seen a hair of Bucky, Clint or Tony. Hulk was still the Hulk. There didn’t seem to be any indication that Bruce would return. On top of that, I was growing out of all my clothes.

I had Wanda, Natasha, Steve, Sam, and the Hulk though. They were doting on me a lot. Sam was making sure I was eating. If something set off my morning sickness, he’d make note of it and I wouldn’t see it again. He made sure that every meal had what I needed even if it was something really bland so I could keep it down.

Natasha was being anal about all the doctor's orders. She made sure I’d keep going to work and exercising without overdoing it. That I took my anti-nausea medication and vitamins. She kept me out of the public eye too. She was pretty insistent that the press didn’t find out I was pregnant.

Steve was doing the same as Nat as far as the double-checking I’d taken my pills that day, but he was also a huge soft touch when it came to cravings. If I said I felt like chimney cake, he’d go get me Chimney cake even though there were only two places in the whole city that sold it.

Wanda took me shopping for clothes and cuddled with me when I was low. She was always there to hold my hair in the bathroom. And if I really just didn’t want to follow the rules, she was the one that let me off.

Hulk was the one I went to if I really just wanted someone to be excited. Wanda and Nat were excited about it too, but life moved on. Hulk was always excited. He’d light up when he saw me and want to touch my growing stomach. He would tell me how he really wanted to feel them and when I told him we were naming one Pietro and I was thinking about Riley for the other, he got excited that they now had names.

So things were looking up in any case. Not perfect but I didn’t feel so alone. I didn’t feel like I was being foolish hoping the others would come back to me.

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was just sitting alone in the common room when Clint showed up.

Showed up is underselling it really. He climbed down out of the vent above my head babbling like we were already in the middle of a conversation.

“Hey, El. I've been reading. And there are some things that I don't understand. Like, did you know that a fetus can have hiccups? How is that even possible.”

I was too shocked and amused to be upset with him. It was such a Clint thing to do that I felt like I hadn’t lost him in the first place. “Uh.. yeah. Yep. I've felt them. It's weird.”

“The book also said they start to grow fingernails at about 10 weeks.” He continued to babble, sitting down next to me and opening up a baby book full of multicolored tabs to a page and showing me a picture.

“So I read. That's weird to think about. I wonder if they scratch inside there.” I said looking at the book more than the picture. It was well worn and each tab was labeled with things like ‘hearing’ and ‘diabetes’ and ‘alien face’.

“Well, they're not as strong. So maybe you wouldn't feel it?” He said looking from my stomach to the book and then back again.

“Oh yeah. That makes sense.” I said, closing the book and put it on the coffee table. I looked at him and smiled. “You've been reading up?”

“Yes,” Clint said, grinning. “I've done the reading that FRIDAY recommended for me. The margins have notes.”

I took his hand and started playing with his fingers. They were so long and calloused. You could always tell that Clint used his hands a lot. “That's where you've been all this time?”

“I'm a slow reader?” He said trying to play it off as a joke.

I frowned. “I was starting to think I wasn't going to see you again.”

“You know that I dropped out of school and joined a circus right? The circus isn't exactly big on reading.”

“I know. I know.”

“And these words, this topic. Slightly above my reading level.” He said, turning away from me and rubbed the back of his head.

“Clint?”

He fidgeted where he sat. “I know. I’m sorry.”

I wrapped my arms around him, melting into him and smacked him upside the backside of the head. “Don't scare me like that.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He said wrapping his arms around me.

I took a breath and pulled back from him. “Have you been talking to Nat?”

“About the twins?”

I relaxed again. “Good. And you’re okay?”

“The books say that twins make it harder for everyone.” He said.

“Um... well I guess there's two of them. I'll probably end up having to have a c-section too. Which has risks.” I said with a frown.

“Yeah, that's what I read.” His hands had moved almost absentmindedly to my stomach and he ran them gently over the swell.

“But people have them all the time. And while I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever actually see Tony again, he has got really good medical care happening.” I reassured him, putting my hands on his.

“Don't worry about Tony,” Clint said. “I'll throw the book at him.”

“You’ve seen him?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what was worse. If he had or if he hadn’t. I was so worried about him being alone, but the thought he was being with everyone but me hurt like hell.

“I've made him my pet project,” Clint said. “He’s all; ‘I’m gonna be a bad dad. My dad was terrible and I’m just like him’. I’m trying to shake him out of it.”

“Oh good. Thank you.” I said though I’m pretty sure my voice didn’t exactly convey thanks.

“Because Bucky threw a knife at me.”

“Bucky threw a knife at you?” I asked shocked.

“Yeah.” He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“He's being weird. If it's just about his arm, why doesn't he get a new one.” I said curling into myself.

“Is that an option?” Clint asked. “FRIDAY is that an option? Can Elly see the scans?”

A holographic projection of Bucky’s arm and shoulder lit up in the middle of the table. “Why couldn't he get a new one? Tony could make him an arm, couldn't he? You can upgrade tech.”

Clint flicked the scan around to show the joints. I stood and took a closer look at them. They looked wrong. Like they cared about the arm but not about the person they were attaching it too. It looked like the muscles were tearing at the joint and there were raw nerve endings. With the way he healed faster than average they must have been tearing and repairing constantly. He must be in pain all the time. “Now, I'm not a doctor. But something about these here, are fucked.” Clint said.

“They definitely seemed to care about the arm more than Bucky.” I agreed.

“Yeah, so something about it being a major surgery. And Tony won't do that without Bruce. And…”

“Yeah, but... and okay, granted this bit is fucked up and probably should have already been seen to, but ... okay... don't you guys know doctor Helen Cho? Like isn't... didn't Vision get made with her cradle tech?” I asked. I knew a little bit of the history but not all of it. So I wasn’t exactly sure why they hadn’t done that yet.

“Yeah,” Clint said, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “And Ultron tried to kill her. I'm not sure she'd work with us.”

“Well, in any case.... surely you can just take it off from here,” I said indicating to about two inches below where the metal arm started. “And just put new tech on the old connection. Worry about the connection later. Or just take it off. If it stresses him out that much.”

“I'm not sure he thought about that,” Clint said. “And then that brings in the new set of issues in being able to protect his family.”

“Right,” I said closing down the hologram. I really didn’t have the energy to try and figure out how to fix Bucky’s arm. I was far from an expert in that kind of thing anyway. I turned and faced Clint. “You're here?”

“I'm sitting here, right?” He said.

“Yeah... but I don't know. Look at this.” I said and lifted my shirt up to show how big my stomach was getting already.

“You're cooking babies in there,” Clint said putting his hands on either side of it. “What did you expect to happen, El.”

“I don’t know, but … what if no one wants me like this or bigger? Or it ruins my body?” I asked.

He pulled me down into his lap. “Come here, dummy.”

“You’re the dummy.” I pouted.

“We love you, El. Nothing’s gonna change that.” He said. “Plus, I think you look hot.”

I nuzzled into his neck, not wanting to look into his eyes. “You know what else happens in pregnancy?”

“Is this the part where you tell me that the books weren't actually written by 15-year-old boys like I thought.” He joked.

“They were not at all.”

He pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Is that safe? That's not a no. Just a genuine worry.”

“Yeah. It's safe. Everything is fine.”

“Well then…” He said and pulled me into a hungry kiss.

He pulled back for just enough time to get my shirt off before we were kissing again and his hands roamed over my belly. I turned to straddle his lap and cupped his jaw, holding him in place as we kissed.

I rocked my hips and could feel the way his cock hardened under me. The problem was, my stomach kept pushing against his abs slightly painfully.

“Oh no. This isn’t going to work.” I said pulling back a little.

“Then we adapt.” He said patting my thing. “Turn around.”

“You don’t want to look at me?”

“Oh honey,” Clint said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You’re a mess. A beautiful sexy, mess, who I most definitely want to have my way with. I’m just trying to make it comfortable for you.”

“Oh, right,” I said. “Sorry.”

“Do you want to turn around?” He asked.

I spun around in his lap and leaned back against him, grinding my ass in his lap. “Yeah, this is better.”

“Plus, I can do this.” He teased squeezing my breasts and sending a wave of pleasure through me.

“I do like that.” I hum.

“I know you do.” He said kissing my neck. He kept squeezing and massaging my breasts and his hand down into my pants. He palmed my cunt and I moaned as a dull tingle spread through me. His fingers slipped between my folds and circled over my clit before pushing inside me.

He fingered me slowly as he sucked a patch on my throat and tugged on my nipple. “Feels so good.” I moaned.

“I know what my princess likes.” He hummed.

“I want you inside me, Clint.” I moaned.

He nudged me forward, pulling his hand from my cunt. “Then there are still too many clothes on.”

I stood and pulled my pants down and off. “That’s a nice view,” Clint said, running his hand over my ass and pulling me back down into his lap. He rutted his hips against me, his cock sliding up and down my pussy before he sunk into me.

“Oh god, that’s it.” I moaned.

“Yeah, it is.” He groaned.

I bounced in his lap as he massaged my tits and rubbed my clit. Thanks to the pregnancy I was overwound and super sensitive. It was like there was nothing he could do that was the wrong move. Each thing sent wave after wave of pleasure through me. I came. The way my body clenched and shuddered around him seemed to spur him on more. He started fucking up hard into me, snapping his hips against mine. His fingers worked tight circles on my clit. “Fuck. Clint. I can’t… I’m gonna…” I babbled.

“That’s okay, princess.” He purred, nipping at my earlobe. “As many times as you like.”

I came again. Followed by a third time. My legs started trembling and I began to feel weak. He held my hips and began to thrust up into me, and when I came again, so did he, spilling inside of me.

I relaxed back against him and he wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled into my neck. “There you go. See, I’m good at taking care of pregnant women.”

“Oh yeah? How many have you taken care of?” I laughed.

“Just you. But I studied. So … we’ll be okay.”


	9. Bucky

My next doctor’s appointment involved doing a fasting blood glucose test at the start.  Which meant I had to go right in before breakfast and drink a bottle of glucose drink and then wait an hour.  Wanda, Sam, Nat, and Clint came with me this time and we were waiting around in the medbay waiting room, just messing about while the hour ticked down.

As the hour approached the doors opened and in strolled Bucky, sans cybernetic prosthesis.  “Did I miss it? Tony was being Tony.”

I looked up at him in shock.  I blinked and shook my head trying to see if I was having some weird kind of hallucination.  I hadn’t seen him in over four months.  It was crazy that he would just show up so casually with his arm removed.  “I… what … You… Did you do something to your hair?”

He looked at me deadpan.  “Yes, but I also… Clint told me that Tony could take the arm off. And now I’m here. Sorry.”

I looked from Bucky to Clint and then back again.  “You just took your arm off?  Just like that?”

“Yes?”  Bucky said like I was being obtuse.  “It was why I wasn’t here. Why wouldn’t I get rid of it?”

“I don’t know.  It was your arm.”   I said with a shrug.  I didn’t know if I wanted to be angry at him for not thinking about it sooner or just relieved that he had figured it out now and it meant he could be here.

“No.”  He said firmly.  “That was never my arm. That was the arm they gave me. That was the arm they forced me to have. It was never mine.”

I got up and moved to him wrapping my arms around him and stroking his hair.  “I’m glad you figured something out.”

“Well, it was your idea.”

I pulled back and looked up at him.  “Does this mean we can share a bed alone now?”

He smiled softly and nodded.  “I think that would be okay.”

“You aren’t too late,”  I said, kissing his cheek.  “Just doing the blood glucose thing and being bored.”

“Oh, good,”  Bucky said, sounding relieved and a little excited.  “Clint told me we find out what they are today.”

“Yeah.  Hopefully.  If they play along.”  I said pulling him back over to take a seat.

Bucky made a pained whine sound.  “Okay.”

“What was that?”

“If they play along.  They’re our kids.”

I laughed and leaned against him.  “You think they won’t?  Maybe if they don’t we’ll know they’re Tony’s.”

Bucky rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, because any kid of Clint’s would ever play along.”

“If one of them seems to slip and smack into the other one, then we’ll know it’s Clint’s.”  I teased.

“Hey!”  Clint protested.  “I’m right here!”

“Clint!  One time you went to walk over the bed, got your foot wrapped in the covers and launched yourself so far you ended up doing a forward roll into the bathroom.”

“With grace,”  Clint said.

Doctor Schroeder stepped out of the examination room and looked over our group.  “Okay, Elly if you want to come and get your blood drawn we can get to the good stuff.”

I went in alone and she took blood and while I got comfortable on the examination table she went and got the others.  They grouped around the table, all trying to get in a position where they both could touch me, not be in the way and see the screen.  It wasn’t entirely successful but they did their best.

“Are we all ready?”  Doctor Schroeder said as she squirted the gel on my stomach.

“Yes, hurry up!”  Wanda said.

I started giggling and squeezed her hand.

“Well, someone is excited.”  Doctor Schroeder said and began moving the wand around on my stomach.  The babies were visible right away and they looked more like babies now than they ever had.   She did some measurements.  “We’re finding the genders right?”

“Yes!  Hurry!”  Wanda said sounding frustrated as she stared up at the screen.

Doctor Schroeder broke down in laughter.  “Okay, okay.  Keep your pants on.”  She moved the wand around some more and pointed at the vague shape on the screen.  “See that little shape there.”

“Is that …?”  Bucky started.

“His wiener?”  Clint finished.

Doctor Schroeder chuckled.  “Yes, baby number one is a boy.”

“Pietro,”  I said, grinning at Wanda.  She smiled and leaned over and kissed me.

She moved the wand around some more and after some uncomfortable pushing against my stomach, she found what she wanted.  “That little hamburger shape there, that means baby number two is a girl.”

“One of each,”  Bucky said, looking up at the screen and tapping his hand on my forearm.

“Riley and Pietro,”  I said.

“Okay, everything looks fine.  We’ll run the blood tests.  Were there any other questions?”  The doctor said.

“No,”  Wanda said, speaking for all of us.

She wiped off my stomach and started putting the equipment away.  “Okay, in the next few weeks the kicks should be hard enough for others to feel.  If there’s nothing else, I’ll let you go and see you in 4 weeks.”

“How long will the tests take?”  Clint asked.

“Mister Stark has rushes on everything.  We’ll know this afternoon.  I’ll email them to Elly.  Otherwise, you’re all good to go.”   She said.

“Thank you,”  I said, pulling my pants back up and heading out to the elevator.  “One of each,”  I said as we stepped inside.

“Both,”  Wanda confirmed, putting her hands on my stomach.

“Little Riley and Pietro,” I said.  “We need to think of middle names.”

“Middle names?”  Clint asked.

“Yeah, you know?”  I said.   “Like how yours is Francis?”

“Oh right.”

“You wanna know something weird?  So is mine.”  I said patting Clint’s forearm.

“It is not,”  Clint said.

“Yes, it is.  Elise Frances Cooper.  Spelled different.  Like the country owns me.”

Bucky snorted.  “Well, Elly the Cooper that belongs to France.  You’re a dork.”

“I know, I love you too,”  I say.  “God, we have so much to do.  We still don’t even have a place to put them.”

“I’m working on it.  Tony’s actually planning things.  I promise.”  Clint said.

“Does he even know it’s twins?”  I asked and Clint shook his head.  “When did you find out, Buck?”

“Not until Clint came to talk to me about the arm,”  Bucky said.  “Steve didn’t think I’d be able to handle it.”

I frowned and nodded.  “I wonder if Bruce knows.  Like, is Hulk passing him on information.  We should go see Hulk and tell him.”

The elevator paused and changed directions.  “You need to chill out, El.  Your brain is going a mile a minute.”  Sam said.

“I can’t help it.  I haven’t even bought maternity clothes.  These are just the stretchiest sweatpants I own.”   I said.

“I’ll take you shopping, sweetie,”  Wanda said.  “It’s okay.”

The doors opened onto Bruce’s floor and we went down to his apartment and let ourselves in.  Hulk jumped up from where he was sitting and rushed over.

“Elly.  You see babies?”  He asked.

“We sure did, big guy,”  I said as he put his large hand on my stomach.

“Tell Hulk.”  He said in his deep rumble.

“One of each.  Boy and a girl.”  I said.

A broad grin broke out on his face and he clapped his hands.  “Hulk happy.  Want to meet babies.”

“Yeah, me too, big guy,”  I said.  “Can we sit?”

“Sit.”  He grunted.  We all took seats on the couches and Wanda went to make tea.

“Alright, you better come here and cuddle me, Buck.  You have a lot to make up for.  I need to hear how sorry you are for abandoning me.”  I said as I took a seat next to Hulk.

“I had nightmares about choking you or the babies.”  He said as he moved next to me.

“Yeah?  Did you?  I had nightmares about smothering them.  Them falling apart in my hands.  Of them being run over.  Of dropping them.  It’s nice you got the choice to run from it though.  Would have been nice to get some time to deal with that without the morning sickness and physical exhaustion of being pregnant.”

He wrapped his arm around me and I moved in against his chest.  “I am sorry, El.”

“I missed you,”  I said as I rested my head against his chest.

“I’m here now.”  He whispered.  “I’ll be here.”

“I forgive you.  I’m glad you’re here.  And now completely armless… Get it?”  I teased.  He looked at me deadpan and I started to giggle.  “Armless, get it?  Because you were scared of hurting us and now you’re armless?”  The look changed but was still extremely serious.  The kind of look that might scare someone else.  “Armless… harmless… get it Bucky?”

He cracked and started laughing.  “You are such a dork.”

“There we go.  Got there in the end.”  I said, leaning up and kissing him.


	10. The Xenomorphs

For quite a while things just went along like that.  Everyone had settled into the idea of the babies coming, though I still hadn’t even seen Tony and I was starting to firmly believe that it was just Hulk now.  Bruce was gone and he probably wouldn’t come back until the kids were in college.

I’d decided I was going to stop dwelling on it though.  Most people who were having a baby had one partner there helping them.  I had seven.  I missed Bruce and Tony like crazy, but I’ve always believed that the last person who should raise a child is a person who doesn’t want to, so I let myself mourn the loss of a relationship but otherwise stayed positive in the ones I still had.

There were still logistical issues.  We each had apartments to ourselves.  Some had spare bedrooms, most didn’t.  There was definitely not one that would fit all of us, and only a few that would fit two of us and a baby.  Hulk wanted me to move up to the empty apartment on his floor, but it was still only a one-bedroom.  Rhodey offered to be the one that moved and for me to take over more of the floor I was on.  We considered that.  It wasn’t ideal but we could maybe turn it into something that would work.  The main issue was it would mean Tony had to sign off on it. 

I had been too scared of buying anything because of it.  What’s the point of buying a crib if there’s nowhere for it to go.  At this point, my babies were going to be sleeping in the bath and wearing clothes fashioned out of things we already had lying around.

I had more doctor’s appointments.  She had said nothing to me about needing to worry about anything particularly.  So I still didn’t know whose babies they were anyway.  They were just our babies, and we were starting to get excited.

At twenty-one weeks we were just hanging around in the common room when I felt a very hard kick.

“Holy shit,”  I said putting my hand on my stomach where it happened.  “Someone’s trying to bust out Xenomorph style.”

Wanda scrambled over to me, literally climbing over Clint and Steve to get closer.  “Let me feel.”

I took her hand and put it on the spot I felt the kick.  “Just be patient.  I don’t know if they’ll do it again.”

She pulled a face and I felt her push the words ‘I want to feel them’ directly into my head.

“I know.  Just…”  There was another kick and I looked up at her.  “There, did you feel that?”

She squealed and the brightest smile broke out on her face.  “Yes!”

I grinned at her and kissed her forehead.  “Can you tell which one it is?  Like can you feel them?”  I asked, tapping my head.

“Yeah, they’re a little different,”  Wanda said and her eyes glowed pink.  After a second I was linked with her and I could feel the two different thought patterns of the babies.  They were so simple and primitive.  Just lights and colors and sounds, but each baby felt different.  I was connected to them.

“Oh,”  I said with a happy sigh.  “Which one is which?”

‘This one is Riley.'  Wanda sent to me, boosting the thought pattern of the baby who just kicked me once again.

I looked over at Sam.  “It’s Riley kicking.”

“It is?”  Sam said, moving closer.  “Can I feel?”

She kicked again and I nodded enthusiastically.  “Yeah.  Oh, man, she’s so active.  It’s like she’s trying to feel the outside world the way thoughts are.  She wants more space.”

Sam put his hand on my stomach and I moved it next to Wanda’s.  “Yeah?”

“Hopefully you can feel from there.  Give it a second.”  I said.

“Well, she wants to talk to us.  She knows we’re hers.”  Wanda said.

“She does?  Oh my god.”  I said, feeling tears prick my eyes.  There was another kick, bigger than the others.  “Oh my god, that one was huge.”

“That was both of them,”  Wanda said.  “She’s woken up her brother.”

“What a cheeky girl.  Did you feel, Sam?”  I asked.

He nodded, a soft smile on his face.  “I did.”

I leaned over and kissed his cheek.  “That’s our kids.”

“Is there room for another hand?”  Bucky asked.

“You can try,”  I said with a chuckle.

“Well,”  Bucky said, pushing his way in so he was kneeling beside me.  “I’m coming in.”

I stretched out a little to make room for all the hands on me, so everyone could get to feel.  “Maybe try here,”  I said putting his hand under Wanda’s.  “If that doesn’t work, you’re gonna have to fight for it.”   There was a moment of nothing and then one of the babies kicked on the other side.  I quickly shifted Bucky’s hand to where I felt it.  “No wait, try here.  There were a few more kicks and I felt like I must have lit up.  “There.  Buck!  Did you feel it?  They’re going crazy in there.”

“I should probably stop hogging the babies,”  Wanda said, though she didn’t actually take her hand away.

“Yeah, Wanda. Stop hogging the babies. It’s my turn.”  Natasha said coming over and looming down over us.

I hummed contentedly, just loving we were getting this moment of excitement.  “Plenty of kicks for everyone.”

“Well, my turn,”  Natasha said, looking at Wanda.

I put Natasha’s hand on my stomach nudging Wanda’s hand out of the way.  A few moments later there was a series of kicks of different strengths.  “Oh man, they’re playing football in there.”

Natasha smiled and leaned her forehead against my stomach.  “My babies are going to annoy their momma so much,”  She said, speaking so softly and with such love in her voice, I felt tears prick my eyes.  Natasha was really why I was doing this and there were moments like this when all the pain I had been through was worth it to see how happy I had made her.

“They are.  They’re already so strong.  Imagine what it will be like when I’m due.”  I said, running my fingers through her hair.

“You’re gonna be tired of them,”  Nat teased.

“Mm… maybe.  Definitely, if I get put on bed rest.”  I hummed as I relaxed under their hands.  I looked around at Steve, Clint, and Hulk.  “Do you guys want to feel?”

“Hulk feel,”  Hulk said with a nod.

“Come on then, big guy.  They’re both kicking a lot.”  I said waving him over.  He moved closer but the others didn’t seem to want to make room for him, so I shooed them all and held out my hand.  He shuffled in and he lay one large hand over my stomach.  It wasn’t long until I felt the babies moving around again.  “Do you feel them.”  He made a face and grunted, shaking his head. “No?”  I asked and adjusted myself.  Stretching myself out more and pushing up against his hand and curling his fingers around me, so he was basically just holding me in his closed fist.  I pushed down on his hand, letting him know he could press a little firmer.  Hulk pulled another face like he was frustrated.

“What’s wrong, big guy?  Not feeling them?”  I asked.

“No,”  Hulk said shaking his head.

“Just relax it’s not huge it will feel like a twitch,”  I said, gently.  There was nothing for a moment and then the babies kicked me three times.  “You feel those at all?”

Hulk made an almost squeak sound.  “Yes,”  he rumbled.

I rubbed the back of his hand.  “Apparently right now they’re the size of mangoes.  They’d be so tiny in your hands, huh big guy?”  I said looking up into his green eyes.

“Small. Hulk protect.”  He grunted.

“Yeah.  I know you will.”  I said as there was another series of smaller kicks.

“Hey, big guy,”  Clint said moving up behind him.  “Can I get in on that?”

“Clint’s turn,”  I said patting Hulk’s hand.

Hulk nodded and backed away, moving to sit down by the window.  Clint moved in and I took his hand and put it on the spot I was feeling them the most.

“Do they feel like something or is it just weird?”  Clint asked.

“To me, it feels like I just got kicked on the inside.  To you it will feel like a weird twitch but super isolated,”  I said, holding his hand in place.  After a moment there was another kick.  “That was it.  You feel that?”

“Yeah, felt weird,”  Clint said.

There were another two kicks in a row and Clint started grinning.  “Imagine what it feels like to me.”

“Super weird.”

Steve got up and moved closer holding out his hand.  “Can I?”

“Yeah, of course,”  I said.  He sat down with me and put his hand on my stomach.  They kicked hard almost right away and I grimaced.  “Ow, that’s my kidneys, babies.”

“They hurt?”  Steve asked sounding concerned.

“Kinda.  Like I am getting kicked in the organs right now.”

He looked at me with real concern on his features.  “Oh no.”

“Most of them don’t but those two were big,”  I said.

His fingers stroked gently over the swell of my belly.  “Is that normal?”

I shrugged.  “I’ve never been pregnant before, Steve.”

He chuckled and nodded.  “I’ll ask the doctor.”

I grimaced again.  “Now it kind of feels like they’re switching places.”

Steve leaned down and kissed my stomach. “Come on you two, be kind to your poor mother.”

I laughed and relaxed back on the couch.  Wanda moved in again, pressing her cheek to my stomach.  I felt good.  This was going to be our family, for better or worse.  This moment seemed to just click their minds all into place.  This was real and they were part of it.  I actually felt proper excitement about meeting them for the first time since I got pregnant.


	11. The Return of the Science Bros

The next few weeks went by fine.  I’d pretty much resigned that this was my family now.  The pregnancy had reached 24 weeks.  I hadn’t seen Bruce or Tony for five months.  I figured I wasn’t ever going to despite reassurances from the others that they were working on Tony and he was just in hardcore nesting mode to deal with the panic he was feeling.  I had reached the point where I wasn’t sure I wanted him to come back.

Bruce, on the other hand, was concerning.  We weren’t sure if he was hiding or if Hulk just liked the idea of being a dad so much he wasn’t willing to give him back.  Wanda seemed to think it was the second but no one could convince him to let go of control and when we tried he’d start getting agitated.

The biggest problem we faced was the living situation.  The others had said Tony was working on it.  It didn’t seem to be getting worked on though and I was starting to worry.

“I just don’t know where we’re going to put them.  We’re running out of time.”  I said.

“They’re gonna be pretty small,”  Clint joked.  “You can put them in one crib in the corner.  They won’t take up much room.”

“I’m sorry, they?”

I turned suddenly toward the sound of Tony’s voice.  He stood at the door to the stairwell, the door still held open like he might retreat back through it.

“I - uh - Tony?”  I said, in a state of shock.  He looked like he hadn’t shaved in months, and was wearing a black tank top and sweats.

“Yes?”  He said.  “You said they. What does ‘they’ mean?”

“It means ‘they’,”  I said, still not sure what was happening or why he was there.  Or if he was even actually there and I wasn’t hallucinating.  “As in there’s more than one.”

“How many?”  He asked.

It was like my brain suddenly accepted what was happening and rather than being relieved to see him I was pissed.  “I don’t - No… you don’t just get to come in here and drill me for information when I haven’t seen you for 5 months.  You don’t get to do that.”

“And these triplets or whatever could be mine?”  Tony asked.  I just sat silently not acknowledging him.  Fuming that he’d just come in here and expecting answers.

“Okay. You want me to leave then?”  He snarked.

I snapped, the hurt and pain bubbling and spewing out of me.  “I want you to say you’re sorry to me!”  I shouted.  “I want you to beg me to take you back!  You keep running from me whenever something happens and you get scared and I just have to sit here and wait until you’re ready like I’m a good little girl?  You’re lucky I’m still here!”

He blinked at me like I’d slapped him.

“Why should I tell you anything about them when you don’t even want them?  Come in here snapping at me like I did something specifically to hurt you.  Like I’m not also terrified by this.  I’m not - You don’t get to treat me like I don’t mean anything to you!”

“El,”  Wanda said softly putting her hand on me.

“No.  No.  I don’t always have to be the bigger person.”  I said getting up suddenly, the tears I had been fighting back finally breaking.

“Elly,”  Steve said.

I wheeled on him suddenly.  “Stop using the misbehaving daughter voice on me!”  I shouted spinning on my heel and going to march out.  A sharp pain ran up my side and I doubled over, groaning.

“Elly, that wasn’t the voice,”  Steve said, while Hulk stood and made a distressed noise.

I sunk to my knees rubbing my side and making a pained sound as it felt like a tearing was happening down my side.

“Elly?”  Hulk grumbled as he moved closer and Nat and Sam got up and rushed to my side.

“I don't  - I think I’m okay,”  I said rubbing my side.

Hulk took a step towards me and started to lose his green.   I stared up at him as his muscles shrunk and contracted.  Until all that was left was Bruce standing there holding a far too big of a pair of pants up.  He blinked around the room a confused expression on his face.  “What’s happening?”

It was too much, the pain, Bruce being back.  Tony.  Steve scolding me.  I broke down into wracking sobs and clutched my side.  “I think it’s the babies, Bruce,”  Natasha said an edge of panic in her voice as Sam poked and prodded at me.

“Okay,”  Bruce said moving to my side.  “I’ve got you.  Talk to me.”

“Hurts here,”  I said rubbing the spot where the pain was radiating out from.

“Okay,”  Bruce said beginning to feel around with Sam.  “Let me look.

“You came back,”  I said quietly as I watched them.

“Hulk panicked.  Thought I was needed.”  He said not looking up.

“You’ve been needed this whole time.”

“I’m sorry.”

I put my hand on his forearm as he pressed against my side.  “Did you know?  Could you hear things?”

“Sometimes.  Very, very faintly,”  Bruce said looking up into my eyes.  “Like I was underwater.  I’m sorry, L.  I wanted to come back.  I couldn’t get him to let go.”  I nodded and rubbed his arms.  He kept poking around and looked up at me.  “I think it’s just a pinched nerve.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”  Sam agreed.

I let out a breath.  “They’re okay?”

Bruce nodded and helped me back to a seat.  “I believe so.  You have an obstetrician?”  I nodded and Bruce looked up.  “FRIDAY, can you page them?”

“Right away, Doctor Banner.”  She replied.

I sighed and tried to relax.  “Twins, Tony.  It’s twins.”   I said without looking at him.

He let out a breath.  “Oh, just twins.”

“And they’re only yours if you want them to be.”

“I want it on the record that I was here before Bruce.”  He said.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly.  “Uh-huh.”

“I’m here.”  Tony protested.

“Okay.”

“I have some designs too,”  He said pulling out a tablet.

I sighed and shook my head again trying really hard to not just lose it at him.  “I think you’re forgetting something.”

He made a face and shifted where he stood.

I let my head roll so I was looking at him.  “Would you like me to just disappear for 5 months?  Lock you completely out?  How would that make you feel?”

“Oh,”   He said frowning.  “I needed to access some things. And yes, I probably pulled a Howard.”

“So… what would you like to have heard from Howard?”  I said drily.

“From Howard?”  He asked.   “I wouldn’t even know.”

I groaned and my head fell back.  “Tony.  I want you to tell me you’re sorry and that you love me and I want to feel like you mean it.  Or no.  You aren’t here.”

“But I am here.”  He protested.

I stood up and Natasha moved quickly to support me.  “I’m going to go lie down.  Bruce, it’s good to see you back.  If anyone has anything they feel they might like to tell me I’ll be in there.”  I say pointing at the bedroom.  “Otherwise, when the doctor gets here, that’s where I am.”

“Thanks, El,”  Bruce said softly as I shuffled to the bedroom being supported by Nat.  She helped me into the bed and I pulled the body pillow close as I got comfortable.  It wasn’t long until there was a gentle knock on the door.

“You want me to leave you alone with him?”  Natasha asked moving to open the door.

“Yes, please.  Thank you, Tasha.”  I said.

She nodded and let Tony in, stepping past him as she left.  He stood by the door shifting awkwardly on his feet. “I, uh. I have some things to say. But I’m not sure I can.”

“I need to hear them, Tony.  I’m hanging on by a thread here.”

He sighed and shifted again.  “I know,”  he said, “I just… I don’t know. I don’t wanna fuck them up. But I don’t exactly know how to be there for them.”

“My dad once broke my arm in such a way that when you touched it, it felt like play-doh,”  I said, shaking my head.  “You think I don’t have those exact same fears?  We’ll do the best we can.  I get being scared.  Fuck, if I could put this on hold and go on a bender where none of you saw me for a week I probably would.  I’m not mad that you got scared and you don’t know how to do this.  I am hurt that you didn’t come and talk to me.  That once again you put FRIDAY on lockdown so if I needed you I couldn’t come and see you.”

“I’m sorry,”  he said, frowning.  “I needed time. And that was fucked up because… That’s exactly what Howard would do. And exactly what I don’t want to do.”

“I’ve been so alone,”  I said trying not to cry again.  “When my morning sickness was at its worse Nat went on a mission, and Steve decided he had to go save the world or something and I would wake up and throw up and Wanda would rub my back and then I’d go to work.  And I was alone all day in my lab because you wouldn’t let me in and Bruce was just gone.”

“What do you want me to say?  All I can say is that I’m sorry. And I was an asshole. I didn’t have Steve send Nat away.”

The tears broke again and silently slipped down my cheeks.  I was so afraid.  I wanted to forgive him but I was scared that this would happen again and if I forgave him this, I’d forgive him anything.  “I want you to hold me and reassure me you won’t do this again.  I want to know that you get what you did to me here.  That this is the second time you’ve done this to me and that’s not acceptable.  That I never ever have to worry about you doing this to me if I forgive you.”

“I didn’t mean to,”  He said, shifting again, but not coming over.  “You understand that all intimacy in my life has been flakey, unreliable, or absolutely fake and manipulative right?”

“Have I been like that?”  I asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head.

“I love you, Tony.  I am as patient with you as I can be.  I want you to be happy and feel that love you have been denied for so long.  But I didn’t mean for this to happen.   I hate that I hurt you with this.  That I made you doubt me and my intentions.  But it was an accident and I’m hurting and you are still over there and you still haven’t told me you won’t do this to me again.”

He moved to the bed, slipping off his shoes and sitting down on the side, still just out of reach.  “I know,”  he said, running his hands through his hair.  “That’s the worst part. I know you didn’t do this to trap me or force me into something.”

“I don’t even know how it happened.  She said just my birth control alone was one in 2000 women every three years.  Like what the fuck?  How am I now pregnant with twins?”  I said and looked down at my stomach.

He let out a breath.  “It was meant to be, I guess.”

“I guess so.  I wish… I wish we could have planned to have them.”

He moved closer and I leaned my head against his thighs.  “That would have been ideal,”  he said as he ran his hands through my hair.  “I’m sorry, Elise.  You don’t have to take me back, but I promise I won’t do it again.”

I sighed and just sat leaning against him as he played with my hair.  “So I guess here’s what you need to know.  It’s a boy and a girl.  My doctor has done blood tests to determine if they are genetically related to Bruce, Steve, Bucky and I guess Thor too.  There is a small chance they have two different fathers.  She will only disclose if they are those people’s if she’s worried about their health in some way.  So far we don’t know and Steve doesn’t want anyone to know.  As far as he’s concerned they’re his kids and anyone else that chooses to do this.”

“Okay,”  He said his breath catching a little.  “A little boy and a little girl.”

I nodded and took his hand, placing it on my stomach.  It wasn’t long until there was a kick.  He looked down at my stomach before looking back up at me.  “They … they do that?”

“Yeah, for a while now.  You’ve missed a lot, Tony.”

He nodded and slipped down into the bed, keeping his hand on my stomach.  For a while, we didn’t say anything.  We just sat, him feeling the babies.  “Do they have names?”

“First names.  The girl is Riley and the boy is Pietro.”

He nodded a small frown on his face. “Okay.”

“You have any input on middle names?”  I asked.

He looked at me a little startled.  “Maria?”

I nodded.  “Yeah.  That would be nice.  Riley Maria.”  I said.  “You know, if you can just trust yourself, that you aren’t the person you think you are, you’ll be a great dad, Tony.”

“I will?”

“Yeah.  If you don’t lock yourself up when you get scared.  I’ve seen you with that spider-kid.”  I said, rubbing his thigh.

“That’s different.   I’m not his dad.  I’m just a mentor.  I only see him sometimes and his Aunt is amazing.  I can’t fuck him up.”  He argued.

I shrugged.  “Still.  You’re good.  You’ll be good.  Just… Make sure you practice saying I love you.”

“Right.”  He said with a nod.  “I - I do love you, Elly.  I love you.  I’m really sorry I did this to you again.”

I melted into him and he wrapped his arms around me, leaning his chin on the top of my head.  Maybe we still had some work to do, but finally, we were all back together again.  That was at least a good start.


	12. Tony's Plan

I was given the all-clear by the doctors that afternoon.  It was a simple pinched nerve thanks to moving too fast.  They weren’t uncommon with twin pregnancies anyway.  I went back to the others.  We had dinner together and then for the first time in months, all nine of us slept in the same bed.

I woke the following morning feeling the most settled and rested I had in months.  When I opened my eyes, Bruce was face to face with me and he smiled.

“Morning, L,”  He said softly.

“Morning, B.”

He leaned in and kissed me.  It was so gentle and so tender and full of love.  I hummed happily against his lips.

He pulled back gently and brushed my hair from my brow.  “I missed you,”  I whispered.

“I’m sorry.  I panicked.  Do we… do you know… are they mine?”  He asked.

“I don’t know.  If they are they’re not worried about it.  Hulk let us draw blood and they’d done genetic testing.  Steve is adamant that no one knows who the father is unless they’re specifically concerned about something.”  I explained.

“Right.  Okay.”  He said.

“I’m sorry.  You could ask the doctors directly if you’re worried.”

He shook his head and kissed my temple before running a hand down to my stomach.  “You’re so pregnant.”

“I know.  It’s been a while, B.  You’ve been gone for five months.”  I said with a frown.

“That’s…”

“Yeah,”  I said and leaned my forehead against his.  “You have the control now.  You might need to work something out with Hulk.  He is very excited about the babies.”

One of the babies chose that moment to kick and Bruce looked down at my stomach and then back up to me.  “Was that them?”

“Mm-hmm.”  I hummed.

He leaned in and kissed me.  It was deeper this time and quickly became passionate.  Clint cleared his throat and we both pulled back and looked over at him.

“This a Bruce and Emily thing or can anyone join in?” 

“Come over here, my bird,”  I said.

Clint scrambled over waking up Nat and Tony who sat up blinking as Clint shoved himself in between Tony and I and leaned over me to kiss Bruce.

“What the hell, Legolas?”  Tony grumbled.

“I think we might be having a reconnecting moment, Tony.”  Natasha teased.

“Oh, well in that case,”  Tony said and moved, pulling the blankets down and climbing between my legs.

I grabbed a pillow and moved it under my lower back as Tony kissed the inside of my thighs.  I hummed reaching down and running my fingers through his hair.  “Just getting straight to it, huh?”

He looked up at me, though I could barely see him past Bruce and Clint who were still locked together above me.  “I’d kiss you good morning first, but you’re kinda blocked.  So,”  He dipped his head between my legs and after moving my panties to the side, he placed a large open-mouthed kiss on my pussy.

The others began to wake, looking around bleary-eyed as Tony pulled down my underwear and began to really eat me out properly.  Sam and Bucky watched for a moment until Wanda and Natasha crawled over to them.

Both Clint and Bruce began to roll their hips against my hips.  Their cocks hardened against me and began to leave a sticky trail on my skin.  I moaned and grabbed Clint’s hair, tugging on it and making him moan too.

As Tony brought his hand up and pushed his fingers inside me, I ran mine down and wrapped them around both Clint and Bruce’s cock.  They broke their kiss with a gasp as I moaned and pushed my hips up.  Tony fingers dragged over my g-spot.

The room slowly got louder.  Gasps turned to moans, which turned to cries of pleasure.  I rolled over onto my hands and knees and Bruce moved so he was sitting on the edge of the pit.  I looked up into the brown of his eyes and dropped my head down taking his cock deep down the back of my throat.  At the same time, Tony moved behind me, running his cock up and down my pussy before sinking it deep into my cunt.

The three of us all moaned as one, and the sound blended with those of the others.  Clint had joined the others, though how they had arranged themselves or what they were doing, I wasn’t sure exactly.  All I knew was the pleasure that was swirling out through me from my cunt and the feel of Bruce’s cock in my mouth.

Bruce tangled his hands in my hair as I bobbed my head up and down on his cock.  Each time I took him that little bit deeper until each drop downward my lips would touch flush against his crotch.  A warm buzz and the glow of pink light swirled around me and started to focus on my clit.

I began to moan loudly around Bruce’s cock as I struggled to keep my control.  My legs trembled with my approaching orgasm.  I kept sucking though.  I started tugging on his balls and massaging between his legs as I did.  I wanted him to come when I did.  I wanted to feel the wet heat of his semen in my mouth.  To taste the salty tart liquid as it coated my tongue.

Bruce moaned and stroked my hair.  His eyes closed and he let his head fall back.  I could feel the pulse of his cock in my mouth and I relaxed letting my guard down. As my own orgasm built and came right to the edge, the sounds Bruce made became louder and needier.  I sucked hard and as his hips jerked forward and he spilled down my throat.  As he did my own orgasm broke, crashing through me.  I moaned and choked pulling off Bruce and swallowing.  “Fuck,”  I groaned as my muscles clenched and spasmed.

Tony kept thrusting, drawing my orgasm out.  With a hard snap of his hips, he came.

We sunk back into the bed cuddling as the others all slowly finished too.  Soon all nine of us were lying, panting and snuggled together.

“We should really get up and do things?  We are still Avengers right?”  Steve said.

I groaned and sat up.  “Fine.  Leave me why don’t you?”

“Breakfast together first,”  Wanda said firmly as Natasha came over and helped me up.

“Alright.  That sounds fair.”  Steve said.

We all showered and dressed and Sam and Bucky made pancakes for everyone.

“God, you all suck,”  I whined as I nursed my tea.

“What did we do now?”  Clint asked.

“Just taunting me with coffee,”  I grumbled.

Natasha laughed and took a long deliberate sip from her cup.  “I’m not drinking any coffee,”  Wanda said.

“I know, honey.  You, I love.”  I joked.

Steve shook his head and looked over at Tony.  “You said you had some designs?  What for?”

“Oh, right,”  Tony said, almost shaking himself out of his thoughts.  “I was thinking.  This -”  he waved his hands around and then brought up a screen in the middle of the table. “Isn’t going to work for us.  It would take a lot of work to set up floors for us to use as a family.   It’s also too exposed.  We’ve already been attacked multiple times.  We can’t go outside without paps hounding us.  I was thinking we could move upstate.  We can build something more appropriate for what the Avengers are now.  A big facility with everything we need for training and operations.  Away from other people so we aren’t risking lives.  Lots of labs.  And space.  We can have a house there.  Something where we share the space.”

As he spoke he brought up building plans and concept designs for a large compound.  The more I saw the larger my smile got.  He had a few different designs but the house ones were all based around the idea that, while we each had our own room we could retreat to if needed, they were near everyone else.  There was always a big shared room.  And there were spare rooms for the babies I was carrying and more.  Like he was thinking big picture and these weren’t the only kids we were having.  The living areas were shared and while there was always a dining, tv, games and cinema room there wasn’t one for each of it.  These were large scale family home ideas for our large scale family.

I felt like I was going to cry.  He had been apart but the whole time he’d been making these huge scale plans for us to be together.  For us to grow even more as a family.  It had hurt for him to cut me out, but he was just working his own way to make this okay and for him to be ready for it.

I got up and moved to him, leaned down and kissed him hard.  He startled before wrapping his arms around me and stroking my hair.

“What was that for?”  He asked, blinking up at me when I pulled back.

“I love it.  I love it, Tony.”  I said with a smile.

“Oh.  Well, good then.”  He said and pulled me so I was sitting in his lap.  “I have plans where we can refurbish the tower so we’re more together.   We’d need to move out while it happened.  But I do think the move is better.”

Steve looked over the plans chewing slowly on his food.  Tony seemed to get nervous while he waited and his fingers tapped out a pattern on my stomach.  After a little while, Steve swallowed and looked up.  “I think it’s a good idea.  We’ve been a risk to the city being here.  Does anyone have any objections?”

Everyone glanced around at each other.  “I think it will be good,”  Wanda said.

“Can I get a dog?”  Clint asked.

“What?  No.”  Tony said.

Clint shrugged and took a sip of his coffee.  “I think I’m gonna get one any anyway.”


	13. Shopping for Twins

The plans were put in place to move.  Tony bought land up in Esopus that sat right on the Hudson.  We saw it via google maps but he was pretty determined that we weren’t allowed to see it in person until it was done.  What we did know was that there was going to be a new state of the art facility for the Avengers.  It would have hangers and landing pads for the jets, labs and offices, gyms and rooms for weapons and combat training.  As well as conference rooms, living quarters and all the other trappings for what was essentially a privately run military installation.  We would be getting a house a little off from it, surrounded by trees and right by the water.

It was exciting to think we were all going to live together like an actual family and not just a bunch of people who were dating and happened to live in the same building.  It was going to be a big change and one that would take some getting used to but I was ready for it.

Now that the house was under construction, I was no longer worried about not having a place for the babies to go.  Things were more certain and I felt more ready for them and what having them meant for us as a group.

Except for the fact that we weren’t at all ready for them.  We had no baby clothes.  No furniture.  No diapers or bottles or wraps.  I was 26 weeks pregnant and we weren’t prepared to actually have babies at home with us in any way, shape or form.

So Tony took Wanda and I to Maddison Avenue to shop for baby supplies.  We wandered through the cribs when I stopped at two that seemed to clip together to form a sort of double crib.  It was a light, cream, stained timber and I ran my fingers over the sleighed ends.

“Twin cribs?  I didn’t know these were a thing.”

Wanda came up beside me and picked up the card that described it.  “You didn’t?  They have lots of things for twins.”

I smiled and wrapped my arm around her waist and leaned my cheek on her head.  Of course, my little lost twin would know all about what was available for twins these days.  She’d probably been researching since she found out I was pregnant with twins.  “Do we get one of these?”  I asked.  “They’re so big.”

“We could always have one built,”  Tony said.  “Design it how we want.  But this will fit in the nursery just fine.”

“What if they don’t like sleeping next to each other?”   I asked.

“It splits apart,”  Wanda said, moving to the side of it. “See there are, clips here and here.  Then it’s just two cribs.” 

“Yeah, that could work.  So this one then?”  I asked.

“Yep, and if it doesn’t work.  I’ll just make something.”  Tony said grabbing the price ticket from it.

“Of course you could,”  I said nudging him.  I took my list out and my eyes flicked over them.  “Okay, so change table next to match this.  The question is, are we getting one with the bath built-in?”

Tony shook his head.  “No, I’m designing the room to have a deep sink installed.  Easier that way.”

We went over to where the change tables were and selected one that was long and had lots of drawers and had that similar rough-looking washed paint look.  Tony also grabbed the ticket for the most expensive cot mattresses.  On the way to look at the bassinets, I stopped at the rockers and sat in a gorgeous winged backed one.  “I didn’t even consider something like this.  I want this.”

Tony chuckled.  “If you’d let the designer do this you wouldn’t need to consider everything.  It would all be there ready for you.”

I wrinkled my nose.  “Tony.”

“Yeah, Tony.”  Wanda agreed which made Tony break down into laughter.

“Alright, rocker.  Ottoman.  Which fabric?”  He said tossing the swatches in my lap.  I picked a vintage rose color that I thought would match the style of the chair.  We then moved on to the bassinets and Wanda let out a squeak almost immediately.

“Elly!  Can we get the one that looks like a basket!”  She said, almost skipping over to it.  “It has so many colors for the fabric.  We can get pink and blue.  Or white with pink stripes and white with blue stripes.  And they have wheels so we can wheel them into the room with us if they are being hard to settle.”

She was so excited and looked so happy there was no way I could say no to her.  Tony grabbed the ticket for those too and we moved on to the strollers.

I looked over the different types they had for twins.  There were ones that were side-by-side and ones that stacked them one on top of the other.  There were classic ones with four wheels and jogging ones with three.

“Okay.  Here’s the question, is it better to stack them and be streamlined or have them side-by-side and take up the whole sidewalk?”  I asked.

“Side-by-side,”  Tony said with no hesitation at all.

“Jogging one I guess,”  I said, thinking about all the runners in our family.  I chuckled thinking about Steve zooming past Sam while he was pushing the twins.  “You think they go fast enough for Steve and Buck?”

Tony thought about it for a moment.  “I’ll have to make one. Or special wheels.”

“So don’t even buy a stroller?  Or buy one and you alter it?”  I asked.

Tony nodded as he came to a decision.  “I should probably just make it.  They’ll need bug guards.”

“Okay.  Let’s do it that way.”  I said with a laugh, before looking at my list.  “Diaper Genie, car seats, slings, diapers, wraps, wipes, bottles.  Those are the things that just the best thing is what we want.  Then it’s basically clothes and toys.”

We each grabbed a shopping cart and started just putting the best of the medium items in.  Tony getting car seats and bottles.  Wanda baby slings and the cutest and prettiest muslin wraps she could find.  Me grabbing everything else.  We met back in the center of the store.  “Just clothes and toys now and this place has none of that.”

“Okay, I’ll pay and organize this to be delivered and we can drive up Maddison until we find something else.  A little Ralph Lauren for kids.”  Tony said.

We went to the counter and waited as Tony organized and paid for everything.  When he was done we went back out to the Lotus that Tony had parked out front.  I let Wanda into the back and then got in.  “We’re going to need to need to get a minivan or something,”  I said.

Tony looked at me in shock.  “You shut your dirty mouth.  Never say that word again.”

“Minivan?”  I asked.

“Elly!  That’s blasphemy!”

Wanda and I broke down into giggles while Tony glared at us and pulled the sportscar out.  He drove a little way down the street and pulled up at the front of a boutique childrenswear shop.  We all got out and went in.  I grabbed Wanda by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.  “Now the fun stuff,”  I said shaking her.

“Cute little outfits?”  She squealed.

“Yes and toys,”  I said, grinning.  “Let’s see if they have little Armani suits to match Tony.”

“Not here,”  Tony said.

“Somewhere?  They exist?”  I asked.

“Of course, but not here.   We’ll get him one.”

“Nice.  You know what they do have?”  I asked him.

“Here?”  He asked.

“That was rhetorical because the answer is …”  I moved down the rack beside Tony and held up an Iron Man onesie.  He frowned at me.  “No?  Cap instead?”  I asked holding up a little Captain America one.

“Those aren’t authorized.”  He said furrowing his brow and coming over to me.

I took a look at the label.  “Really?”

“I’m pretty sure,”  Tony said taking it off me and looking at the label.  “Yeah, these aren’t ours.  That’s going to be a problem.”  He took a photo of the label and texted it to someone before putting it back.  “Don’t be buying Avengers’ shit anyway.  We have it in the gift-shop.”

“Fine,”  I huffed.

“Elly.  Little shoes!”  Wanda said poking me which made me perk right back up again.

“Oh, yes.  Shall we?”  I said, and Wanda nodded.  “Alright.  I’m gonna go this way.  You go that way.  Call me,”  I said tapping my head.  “When you find something extra cute and hold it up and I’ll do the same.”

“Okay, let’s do it,”  Wanda said.

We all separated, grabbing baskets and throwing things into them.  Tony wandered the racks, occasionally taking something off and hanging it over his arm as he watched us go completely crazy buying baby clothes and toys.  I’d look at him sometimes and he looked so content.  It was funny to think that just a month ago he’d been hiding from this completely.  I think part of it wasn’t just the babies either.  I think he liked that I was finally just letting him buy stuff, which was easier for me here because it wasn’t for me.

By the time we were done, we had around six baskets full of plush toys, stacking rings, baby mobiles, onesies, little dresses, outfits, and tiny shoes.  “This should do until they’re 21 right?”

“Maybe for a year.”  Wanda teased.

“I guess that’s pretty good,”  I said and leaned against Tony.  “Alright.  Let’s pay. I need to get off my feet.  This was fun but holy crap does carrying two babies hurt your back.”

“Okay, checking out,”  Tony said, taking things off us.  “Why don’t you go wait in the car?”

“You sure?”  I asked.

He waved me off and I kissed his cheek before heading out to the car with Wanda.  She once again had to be let in the back and by the time I was in my seat I sighed in relief.  “You happy?”  I asked.

“Of course.”

I hummed.  “Me too.  I don’t know why but… Feels really real now we have things.  I can’t wait to have the nursery set up.”

She giggled.  “It still has to be built yet.”

“I know, I know,”  I said.  “Did you see how small that stuff was? They’re gonna be preemie too.  So teeny tiny.”

Wanda sat up like she’d been shocked.  “Did we get the preemie diapers?”

“Yes,”  I said giggling.  I looked at my stomach and caressed my hand over it.  “That’s what I grabbed and then some just regular ones in case these guys are super soldiers and just come out normal-sized.”

“Okay, good. Good to be prepared.”  Wanda said, relaxing again.

“Yeah.”  I agreed.  “What if only one is and one is tiny and the other is huge?”

“Well, we’ll take care of them equally.”

“What if one is Bruce’s and it hulks out of its diapers?”

“We’ll deal with it.”

I giggled.  “So calm about everything.”

She shrugged.  “I have to be.”

I turned in my seat as best I could and looked back at her.  “Why?”

“I want them.”  She said and rubbed my arm.  “We’ve done the shopping, we’ve had the appointments. We’re doing everything right. There’s going to be nothing that can stop us.”


	14. An Arm to Hold Them

When I reached 30 weeks the construction on the house was well ahead of schedule.  I guess that’s what happens when you have a multi-billionaire nudging things along.  While the whole facility wouldn’t be ready for a while after the babies would be born, at the rate it was going, we would be moving in before they came.  That is if they hung out until the end. **  
**

There was something else that had been going on that none of us had been aware of.  After Bucky had decided to have his arm removed Tony had gone to work designing a new one.  He’d spoken to Steve and together they’d worked on a design for one for him that was personal and beautiful and meant for Bucky the father to hold his children with, and not for the Winter Soldier to kill people.

When the arm was made Bucky was booked into surgery with these world-class surgeons and specialists in bioengineering.  Tony was going in with them to oversee things.  As was Bruce though he was a little unsure of how much he could help. 

The rest of us waited in the waiting room.  It was not a quick operation either.  We took turns pacing and being the strong one for each other for about 10 hours.  None of us were willing to go and just relax. 

“You think it’s over yet?”  I asked around the 9 and a half-hour point.  I rubbed my side.  I was really stressed and really uncomfortable.

Wanda’s eyes glowed pink and she tilted her head to the side.  “They’re still working. That’s all I can tell you.”  She said.  I groaned and flopped on the couch, letting my head fall back against the wall.  “It’s all medical jargon. I can’t follow.”

“One of the babies is in my ribs and that isn’t helping,”  I whined.

Wanda looked at me with her head tilted to the side.  “It’s Riley.”

“Riley.  Please, I use my lungs for breathing.”  I complained rubbing my side again.

“I’m not sure she understands that,”  Wanda said.

I got up and started pacing again.  “Feel like she’s headbutting them.”

“She’ll settle if you settle.”

I shook my head.  “I’m trying to make gravity pull her down.”

Natasha stifled a laugh.  “El, I don’t think that works.”

“Well, sitting didn’t help either.”

“I know, sweetheart.”  She said, soothingly.

I went and flopped down next to Clint.  “Rub my back for me, please.”

Clint immediately began to knead the tightness out of my lower back.  “Yes, dear.”

“How’s Steve holding up?”  I asked leaning forward a little.

“As well as can be expected,”  Wanda replied.

I frowned and we all fell back in that nervous silence again.  Clint steadily working out my muscles.  Eventually, I curled up on his lap and was just starting to doze when my stomach began to twitch.  “One of the babies have the hiccups now.”  I sighed.

Clint looked down at me.  “They do?”

“Yeah, look,”  I said and moved one of his hands so my stomach so he could feel the very obvious and regular jump of one of the babies hiccuping.

“Oh wow,”  Clint said, a large smile forming on his face.

“You can probably just see it,”  I said, rolling over and holding still, so the twitch became more visible.

“Holy shit,”  Clint said, his eyes going wide.  “That’s so weird.”

“Yeah, it is. Feels weird.”

He held his hand there for a moment, when Wanda sat up suddenly, looking extremely alert.  “Oh, wait.”

“What?  Is it Bucky?”  Sam asked as I sat up.

The door opened and Steve stepped out into the room looking exhausted.  “They just finished.”

“It went okay?  He’s okay?”  Sam asked.

“They’re not sure,”  Steve said shaking his head.  “Well, he’s okay. They’re not sure about the arm.”

I made a whining sound as Sam went over to him and rubbed his back.  “How are you doin’?”  He asked.

Steve leaned on him a little, letting Sam carry just a little bit of the burden he felt on his own shoulders.  Taking that little bit of comfort from him.  “I’ll know once he wakes up.”

I held out my arms to him.  “One of the babies have hiccups.  Come feel.”

“They do?”  Steve asked, his eyes lighting up for a second and the bare beginnings of a smile forming.

He moved a little closer to me and I pulled my shirt down tight over my stomach so he had a better view to see the little twitches.  “You wanna feel?”

He nodded and crouched down in front of me and put both his hands on my stomach.  I ran my fingers through the back of his hair as he stayed there tense, but still, feeling the regular little twitch.

“He’s gonna be okay.  That arm is gonna be how he gets to carry both these two at once.”  I said gently.

“Right,”  Steve said.  “If it works.”

“It will.  It’s Tony.”  I said and kissed his brow.  “If it doesn’t he’s still much happier without one than he was with the old one.  He can sleep without you there if someone else is.”

“This is true.”  Steve agreed.

“So.  He’s okay.  And we’ll know soon enough about the arm.”  I said.  “Did they say how long?”

Steve shrugged a little  “Maybe an hour?  Could be sooner.”

“Surgery is nerve-wracking, huh?”  I said quietly and then almost with no warning, I burst into tears.  The thought of how long I would have to wait between the C-Section happening and when I actually got to hold my babies hit me out of nowhere and the thought on top of how long Bucky’s surgery took and how stressed I’d been feeling just overwhelmed me.  Clint startled and then began rubbing my back and trying to soothe me.  “Sorry.  Bucky and then I thought how I’d be having a c-section and I won’t be able to hold them for ages cause they’ll be sewing me up.”

“You can hold them,”  Steve said, rubbing my arm.  “Just not weight-bearing.”

“No.  They let you for like a second and then they take them away and give them to one of you until I’m out of recovery.”  I sobbed.

“You’ll get to hold them, sweetheart,”  Steve said.  “You’re okay, and they’ll be in good hands.”

“Yeah, I know they will be.  But… and with Bucky too.”

“Steve?”  Wanda said quietly.

I snapped my head around and looked at her.  “Is he awake?”

“No, but he’s getting there.”  She said.  “And you need to be in there or he’ll pull a Rogers.”

Steve got up and went back into the medbay, leaving the rest of us to wait.  It was another forty minutes before a nurse came out and told us we could go in and see him.  We all went inside and I beelined for him.  He was sitting up in bed looking sleepy and out of it.

I sat down next to him on the bed and snuggled up against his side.  “Hey.  You did it.”

“It won’t move,”  He said, sounding quite out of it.  “It should move.”

“Maybe the drugs are still affecting your nerve endings,”  I suggested.

“Serum, El,”  Bucky grumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I wasn’t aware they didn’t take that into account when they anesthetized you.  No wait, yes they did because they consulted with me on it.”  I snarked.  I touched Bucky’s neck.  “Tell me when you stop being able to feel it.”

I started running my finger down his neck and along his shoulder.  I traced the scarring of his old wound and moved over the bandages.  When I reached his bicep he shook his head.   “Nothing there.”

“Okay.  Okay.  So there is some in here.  You’ve got dulling before the arm but it doesn’t stop until after it.  So let’s not panic yet.  Either it’s something that is going to increase as the anesthetic clears out of your system or it’s something in the arm after its connection.”  I said taking his other hand and squeezing it.

“El, you shouldn’t have told me that.”  He said, furrowing his brow.

“Why?  That’s good news.  Easy fix.”

“Because. I’m going to panic.”

I lifted his hand and kissed his fingers.  “You were already worried.  It’s okay, sweetheart.”  He let out a sigh.  “Has Tony checked it out yet?”

Bucky shook his head slowly.  “No.”

“Maybe he doesn’t even expect it to be working yet,”  I suggested.

Tony chose that moment to come into the room.  “What?”

“Can’t feel my arm,”  Bucky muttered.

“Stops about here,”  I said, touching his bicep.

“Let me in,”  Tony said.  I got off the bed and he took my place.  He starts looking it over, moving parts and twisting it in a weird direction.  “Wasn’t turned on.”

“Jackass,”  Bucky grumbled.

“Does it work now?”  Steve asked.

“I don’t know,”  Bucky said.  He seemed to be shutting down and closing us all out.  Like this was just too much for him to deal with.

“Why don’t you try it, Buck?”  Steve pushed.

“That’s too much pressure,”  Bucky grumbled.

“Buck.  It’s gonna be okay,”  Steve said gently.  “Just relax.  You have your new arm and you’re gonna hold your babies with it.”

Bucky huffed and shuffled down into bed rolling onto his side.  Steve looked like he was in pain.  A nurse entered the room and looked around  “I think that’s enough visitors for Sargent Barnes for today.”

I leaned in and kissed Bucky’s cheek.  “I love you.”

“Love you too.”  He whispered.

* * *

It wasn’t until the next day that we got to see Bucky.  Steve slept badly, though I think we all did.  The following morning I went to the lab for a few hours to keep my mind off it, even though I had been told I shouldn’t be working anymore.  I was just jittery and needed something to hold my attention until we were allowed to go see him again.

At 10 AM, I went up to find everyone gathered around in the waiting area.  “What’s going on?  They said 10?”

“They won’t let us in,”  Wanda said.

“Why?  What’s wrong?”  I asked, feeling a sense of panic build in me.

“I don’t think anything is wrong. But they won’t let us in.”  She replied.  “Just Steve.”

“I don’t like this at all,”  I grumbled.  I curled up next to Wanda and she held me and stroked my hair.  It felt like an hour passed before they called us in, but it was probably closer to five minutes when they came to get us.

We all filed into Bucky’s room, where Steve was sitting on the side of the bed next to him.

“Buck?”  Clint said as we all gathered around his bed.

“Yeah, sorry guys,”  Bucky says.  “Didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“You okay?  Why wouldn’t they let us in?”  I asked.

“I’m fine. Come here.”  He said.

I moved over to him and he wrapped his right arm around my waist.  I leaned in and hugged him, feeling like I was about to cry or something.  “I was getting so worried.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to add to your stress.”  Bucky said and ran his prosthetic hand over the swell over my stomach.

“It works?”  I asked as I watched his metal fingers move over my belly.

He nodded.  “I can feel, El.  It’s the new hand.  On your stomach. Feeling the twins.”

I put my hand on his new one.  “You can feel them with it?”

“It’s not like with my real hand. But it’s better than the other one.”  He said moving his hand from my stomach to gently caress my jaw.  “Tony said it’d get better with use.”

“You’re okay with it?  You feel safe?”

“It’s better than the other one.”

“You don’t get out of changing diapers now.”  Sam teased, giving his thigh a pat.

“I know,”  Bucky said, going back to pressing his hand on my tummy.  “I want to. To be involved.”

“When I am in surgery you can be the one who holds my hand.”  I teased. 

He chuckled and nuzzled at my shoulder.  “You can squeeze as much as you want. And you won’t hurt me.”

“Okay then, it’s a deal,”  I say giggling.

Wanda smiled and looked a little wistful.  “As long as I get to do skin-to-skin I don’t mind.”  She said.


	15. The Compound

At 33 weeks, I’d been told to go on partial bed rest.  I was huge and they were worried that I wasn’t going to make it to term.  I could still do things.  Go for walks or take a swim.  I just had to take it easy and when I was down it was feet up, relaxing.  I actually could even have sex still if it was very slow lovemaking.  Mostly it was just nothing strenuous, no lifting and I wasn’t allowed to do any cleaning.

At the same time, our house was finished at the compound.  The compound itself still had a lot of work before it was fully operational, but we could move in, settle into our new family life and get ready for these babies to arrive.

We took the Quinjet there and being in the back both felt quite stressful considering I was supposed to be taking it easy, plus I couldn’t see anything, so I had no idea where we were or what I’d see when we arrived.

“When are we going to be there?”  I asked craning my head to see out the front.

Tony chuckled and rubbed my leg.  I could tell he was feeding off my excitement a little.  He wanted to show us, but he liked that none of us had much of an idea of what to expect.  “Calm down, we get there when we get there.”

“But I want to see it,”  I whined.  “And I need to pee.”

“Patience. And there’s a bathroom over there.”  Tony said.

“There is?  Why didn’t you say?”  I asked, heaving myself up.

“I did. When you got on board.”  He said defensively.

I groaned and waddled towards the bathroom.  The baby brain had gotten so bad lately.  “Oh god.  I’m gonna need to tattoo reminders onto my skin like that guy from Memento.” 

“That might be a little much,”  Tony called after me as Sam started laughing.  

I awkwardly used the military-style bathroom and came back out, sitting down next to Tony and leaning my head on his shoulder.  “You’ve seen it right?”

“Yes, dear,”  He said.

“It’s nice?”

“Of course it is.”

“Do I still have my swing bed?”

He stifled a laugh and rubbed my leg.  “Yes, dear.”

I hummed and rubbed my cheek on his shoulder.  “That’s good too.”

“I know,”  He teased.

I laughed and kissed his cheek.  “So modest.”

“Hey, I worked really hard on the new place.”  He said, sounding slightly offended.

I rubbed his leg and nuzzled at his neck.  “I know.  I’m so excited to see it.”

“Good, because we’re landing in 60,”  Natasha called back from the cockpit.

I craned my head around trying to get a glimpse of the house.  All I could see was trees and a tiny piece of the Hudson.  “Damn Quin having no windows back here.”

“Patience,”  Tony scolded.  I huffed and stuck out my bottom lip.  “You’ll appreciate it.  Just watch.”  

The jet landed and Clint started going through the shutdown procedures as Nat climbed back to where the rest of us were sitting.  “Well then,”  She said.  “You wanna hit the button, genius?”

Tony got up and walked to the hanger door and pressed the release button.  “And here we have -”  The doors opened and revealed the new Avengers compound.  “- Home.”

I got up and walked to the doors my mouth hanging open.  The facility was enormous.  We had landed near a large hangar that had already been completed and housed several other jets, helicopters and Tony’s car collection.  There were a dozen other buildings that were part of the Avengers’ official facility.  Offices, labs, dorms, conference rooms, and training facilities.  It was massive.  The main building where the public would come first sat right on the Hudson.  There was still a lot of construction going on.  It wouldn’t be finished anytime soon but you could see what this was.  This was bigger than the 13 people that currently fell under the label Avenger.  It was bigger than the scientists and spies and psych department and admin that currently supported the Avengers.  It was bigger than the secret branch of SHIELD still running.  It was bigger than SHIELD had been.  This was a vision.   A privately run group, not there to answer to any government meant to actually protect the world from the things no one else had the ability to do.  It was a way for my family to pull back a little and not have to be the only ones there to do this.  So they had a large support system that was there first before it got to the point they had to step in.

I couldn’t see the house from here but there were cars waiting for us.  Natasha stayed to do cooldown on the jet while the rest of us went to the cars.  We drove down a road that wound down to the left of the main building and disappeared through some trees.  Tony pointed out where my lab would be as we drove past it, but soon the facility was all but hidden.  We drove out into a clearing and there was a large modern looking mansion sitting on the water.  It was reminiscent of Tony’s old Malibu house, though it was a little less spaceship than that.

I got out of the car and looked up at it.  “It looks pretty big.  I wanna see all of it but… how long can I walk around for before it counts as not being on bed rest?”

“Not very long,”  Bruce said, sternly.

I frowned and turned to Tony.  “Most important bits?”

He indicated to part of the house that sat slightly off to the side.  “That’s where our little home labs are.”

I sighed and looked at it wistfully.  “New lab.”

“You can look at them tomorrow, honey.”  He said and took my hand.  “What do you want to see now?”

“I don’t know.  What do you like the most?”

Clint laughed.  “Don’t ask him that.”

“About the house!  He designed it, he has to have favorites.”

“I do,”  Tony said.  “Come on.”

He led us in through the front door.  The entrance was large and open.  A spiral staircase sat in front of the doors and it wound its way around a water feature.  Down here is mostly entertaining.  Dining room.  One of the kitchens.  On that side is a big entertaining area.”

He didn’t seem to want to stop at them though and just headed for the stairs.  “One of the kitchens?”

“Yes,”  Tony said, matter-of-factly.

“How many kitchens do we have?”

“Three.”

He said the number so easily.  Like it was totally normal for a house to have three kitchens.  I opened my mouth to question him further but decided against it.

We got to the top of the stairs and he opened a door on the left.

“This is the den.”  He said.  We followed him in.  It as a large but cozy room with a large flat-screen TV on one all that was hooked up to several video game consoles.  There were large couches.  A foosball table.  A pool table.  A bar.  It wasn’t meant to entertain in though, but rather just to chill out.

“Clint you are never leaving this room,”  I said as he went straight to the consoles.

“Nope.  I live in here.”  He agreed.

“I bet these two never leave when they’re older either,”  I said running my hand over my stomach.

“Probably not.”  Clint agreed.

“Alright.  What else?”  I asked.

“Through this way.”  He said.  I followed after him and he gestured around.  “This is a hallway.”

“Oh, thank you.”  I teased.

“Don’t be a smartass.”  Tony scolded.  “It’s a smart hallway.”

“How’s it any smarter than any hallway that features FRIDAY?”  I asked.

“And now we get to the answer.”  He said and gestured to an electronic pad on the wall.

I approached it and looked it over.  It reminded me of his old arc reactor.  “So, what am I doing?”

“Put your index finger on the pad.”  He said.  I did as he said and waited for him to go on.  “Now, there are different commands. But this one -”  There was a soft whirring noise, and a portion of the wall shifted and sunk away to reveal another hall.

My jaw dropped open.  “Tony!”

“Yes?”  Tony teased.

“It’s like Hogwarts!”

“No,”  He said, dryly.  “It’s Stark Manor.”

“Stark Manor?”  I said heading down the hall.  “Rude.”

“I built it,”  He argued.

“Because of these two.”  I shot back, touching my stomach.  “But it’s amazing.”

“This is the adult’s wing.  There are three wings.  This one.  The family one and a teen one.  This is where we go if we really just need a break.  There’s a lot of us.  It happens.”  He said.  “I think we’ll spend most of the time in the family one.  That’s where kids rooms are.  There’s the big group room there, though the bed isn’t in a pit anymore.  It’s the closest to the main kitchen and the living room.  There are nurseries and that kind of thing.  The teen wing is for when they’re older.  Then they can escape from us if they want to.”

I turned to face him and looked into his eyes.  “Look at you, planning ahead.”

“I’m really excited about them, El.”  He said running his hands over my stomach.  “I know I took too long to get there, but I’m all in.  I want them to have everything.”

I smiled and kissed him gently before pulling back.  “Okay, I think I need to get off my feet.  But not the swing bed, I don’t think I can get into it.”

“Right, you can come to my room.”

He led me down the hall and to a door.  He put his hand on the control panel beside it and it unlocked opening onto a stairwell.  “You and Bruce have access too.”

“Not the others?”  I teased as I followed him up the stairs.

“If I’m up here, it’s because the others are annoying me.”  He teased back.

“Aww…  I don’t annoy you?”  I asked.

He pulled me into his arms and looked into my eyes.  “Sometimes, but I’ve locked you out enough.  Never again.”

I felt myself tear up and I leaned in and kissed him deeply.  He let me lead.  Following my movements.  Each caress of his lips over mine countered mine over his.  He pulled away slowly, tugging on my bottom lip, fore taking my hand and leading me upstairs into his room.

It had a large domed skylight and windows that overlooked the river.  His bed sat in the middle of the room facing the window.  It was a king-sized with an oversized bedhead that almost looked like a wall with lamps built into it.  Otherwise, the room was very minimalistic.  There was a row of dressers.  And two doors.  One I assumed lead to his closest and the other to his bathroom.  There was a sofa chair by the window with an ottoman.   I knew there was tech in the room, I just couldn’t see it.

I took off my shoes and stripped down to my panties before climbing into bed.  Tony stripped off too and climbed in beside me, spooning me from behind.

“You’re gonna nap too?”  I asked.

“No.”  He teased and kissed my neck.

I giggled and wriggled my ass against him.  “You did good, Tony.  I can’t wait to explore more of it.”

“Well, there’s plenty of it to explore.”

He started to tease my breasts, squeezing them gently and tugging on my nipples.  “Tell me some things about it.”

He kissed the side of my neck and slowly rolled his hips against my ass.  “Well, there’s a library.”

“There is?”  I breathed.

He chuckled.  “Thought you might like that.”

“What else?”

One of his hands ran down over my stomach before slipping into my panties and teasing my clit.  “We have a piano. I haven’t had one for a while.”

“Can you play?”  I asked.

“Mm-hmm.  Clint can too.”

“How come I didn’t know this?”

He sucked on the side of my throat and pinched my clit.  I moaned and bucked against his hand.  “I guess we haven’t had a lot of time to do normal people stuff.  We’ll make more time.”

“Mmm good.”  I moaned.  I was already wet.  I seemed to be wet all the time lately.  His fingers glided easily over my clit and down.  He pushed two inside me easily and I gasped and moaned loudly.  “We’re gonna make a happy home here, aren’t we?”  I said at a needy whine.

“Yeah, honey.  We are.”  He said softly.

I leaned my head back and he captured my lips.  We kissed deeply and slowly, our tongues dancing together.  As he did he worked his fingers in my cunt.  He curled his fingers, stroking my g-spot with them as his thumb rolled over my clit.  He kept rutting against my ass, until I could feel his cock, hard and pressed against it.  We never broke the kiss though, even as we both moaned into it.

I came, shuddering around his fingers.  He removed them and pushed his boxers down as I wiggled out of my panties.  He adjusted my hips, lining himself up, and with a thrust, he was inside of me.

“Oh god, yes.”  I moaned.

“That’s it, dear.”  He cooed as he started to thrust.  I gripped his hair and nipped at his earlobe as he pressed his forehead against my shoulder and fucked me from behind, keeping me spooned and safe against him.

My moans got louder as he made soft grunts and groans against my skin.  With a sudden clench of my muscles, I came, moaning against his ear.  It washed over me and my cunt squeezed and fluttered around his cock.

“Fuck,”  He groaned and came inside me.

He slipped from inside me and I rolled over and smiled at him, still feeling a little high from my orgasm.  “We were probably the first ones, huh?”

He laughed.  “Oh yeah.  We totally just broke in the new house.”


	16. Thor

We all settled into the new house.  It was far enough away from the construction and with the forest to act as a barrier so it didn’t really bother us.  When the offices were mostly ready operations began to start up again.  Including recruitment and liaising with the government.

None of that affected me very much though.  There was always a few people at home and they were all planning to be there full time for a while after the babies were born until they gradually eased back into things after the compound was done.

At 35 weeks not much had changed.  I was still on partial bed rest.  Which meant very little really.  I mostly just hung around the house or garden and took it easy.  It was nice having them around as much as they were.  It was nice all of us going to bed in the same bed and eating our meals together.  This change was good for us.  They had been my family for years but it was only really now that we were acting like it.

We were all eating together when a storm hit us out of nowhere.   A full thunderstorm, complete with pummeling rain and lightning.

“That wasn’t in the forecast,”  Steve said, glancing out the window.

I sat up straighter and looked out the window.  “Is it Thor?”

Steve glanced over at Bucky and Bucky nodded.  “Yeah, that’s probably a safe bet,”  Steve said.

“Oh man. If you guys have orgies and I can’t participate I’m gonna be so mad at you.”  I half-whined.

“They wouldn’t dare,”  Natasha said.

“Good,”  I said sitting back again.  “They better not.”

“If it is him, how’d he find where we live?”  I asked.

“Heimdall, ya dork,”  Bucky said.

“Oh yeah, right,”  I said and went to take a bite of garlic bread, pausing just at my lips.  “You think he’d bring Loki this time?  Oh my god, you think Loki will be their Aunt slash Uncle?”

“El.  Zolotse. Relax okay?”   Natasha said rubbing my back.

“Lady, Elly!”  Thor boomed, striding into the room.  “I hear you are with child.”  He paused and looked me over.  “My child.”

I looked up at him opened my mouth to say something.  Closed it.  Then opened it again.  “Yours?”

“Aye, one is mine. The other belongs to the Archer.”  Thor said.

I looked down at my stomach back up at Thor and then over at Clint feeling completely dumbfounded.  “I - I - I’m having a demigod and a normal human?”

“Aye. That’s right.”  Thor said as Clint made a soft noise like he was trying to hold himself together.

“How do you know?”  I asked.

Thor chuckled and crouched down in front of me.  “Have we not done proper introductions?”

“What do you mean?”

“For how I am qualified to know this?”

I shook my head and looked around at the others to see if they understood what was going on.  They all looked as confused and shocked as I was feeling.  Thor chuckled and cupped my jaw, caressing my cheek with his thumb.  Thor chuckled.  “I am Thor son of Odin. I am also as you would phrase it. A god. Gifted in fertility.”

I dropped my jaw.  “You did this to me!”

“Well, it is my child.”  He said, looking slightly confused.

“No, I mean, I was on birth control.  You… You did it.”

“That is … a possibility.”  Thor said.  “I’m sorry if it caused you any distress.  It was certainly not intentional.”

I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck.  “No.  No…  I’m thankful.  These are our babies, Thor.”  I said against his skin.  “All of ours.”

He hummed and held me close, rubbing my back gently.  “That is good to hear.”

He moved and sat beside me, keeping an arm around my shoulder.  “What does this mean for them?  Will yours have powers?”

“More than likely,”  Thor said.

“Will they be born with them?  Will we have to worry about someone getting hurt because of them?”

“No, they’ll come into them,”  Thor said.  “And they can be taught.”

“What about their lifespan?”  Steve asked.  “Will they outlive their mother and their twin?”

Thor nodded, a frown set on his features.  “That is probable.”

I looked down and ran my hand over my stomach.  “What do we tell them?”

“That, I don’t know.  This is a surprise to me too, Elise.”

I looked up at him.  He looked so earnest and had that same fear the others had when they found out.  But he wanted this.  I could tell.  I just couldn’t help but think about how we barely saw him.  I loved him, but he almost didn’t feel like part of this thing we had.  He was our part-time boyfriend.  How did that work if you were a father?  “Are you going to be around, Thor?  I can’t have them think they aren’t wanted.”

He frowned.  “As much as my duties allow.  I will make sure they know they are loved.”

“Do we tell them you’re their biological father.  We weren’t going to find out.  But… are they… if they’re yours and you’re the king.  Do they need to know that?”  I babbled a little.  I wasn’t sure how that would work at all. They were not full Asgardians, being raised by other people on another planet.  Did that still make them in line for the throne?

“My child will have the claim to Asgard. But you don’t have to tell them.”  Thor said, rubbing my back gently.

“They - they will?”

“It’s their birthright.”

All I could think was how do you raise royalty?  We were not royalty.  Shit, Clint had grown up in the circus.  How were we supposed to do this?  “We have to raise a monarch?  How do you do that?”

“Well, no,”  Thor said.  “The training and such would be my responsibility.”

“And will you take them to Asgard to live?  I mean… when they’re grown up?”

“If they wish,”  Thor said.  “It’s not immediately important to immerse them in that world.”

“Okay,”  I said with a sigh.  “God…”

“Literally,”  Tony said making some of the others laugh.

“They’re gonna be a handful,”  Natasha said.

“Thank god, there’s so many of us,”  I said and looked over at Clint.  “How are you doing little bird?”

“My?  It’s.  The.  Mine?”  He babbled.

“It already was right?”  I asked him.

“Well, yes.  But…”

“So this is just biology,”  I said, trying to reassure him.  “Hey guess what we now already know definitively?”

Clint shook his head.  “Don’t know.”

“These kids have blue eyes.  It’s a recessive trait and we three all have it.”

“My babies are going to be adorable,”  Wanda said.

“That would have been trying regardless because they are related to me.”  I joked.

“Okay, El,”  Sam teased.

I laughed and looked back over at Clint.  “If you need to talk about it, Clint.  You know… I went through the same thing already.”

“Right,”  Clint said.

I leaned back against the couch and ran my hand over my stomach.  “This was a lot to process.  Do we need to worry about Loki?  Will there be a Scar and Mufasa style problem?”

“I don’t think so,”  Thor said.

I smile and look at him.  “Thor has seen the Lion King.  All is right in the world.”

He kissed my forehead gently.  “I’ve been around.”

“Yeah, you have.  As evidenced by this.”  I said and pointed to my stomach.  “I’m sorry.  I just realized that this is a shock to you too.  Are you okay with this?  You didn’t plan for it.”

“No, I didn’t plan for it. But it’s a pleasant surprise.”  He said.

“Do you want to feel them?”

“Oh, yes.”  He said sitting up a little straighter.

I took his hand and put it on my stomach.  It wasn’t long before there was a hard kick.  He smiled widely and looked around the room.  “They shall be quite the fighter.”

Everyone laughed and I leaned against him.  “I guess they will be.  They’ve very strong.”

He kept his hand there and just felt them, a soft, slightly drunk looking smile on his face.

“Which one do you think is Thor’s?”  Natasha asked.

“Which was the bigger one?  Riley?”  I said.

Thor looked up at me.  “They have names?”

“Oh yes, sort of.  We don’t have a middle name for the boy yet.”  I said rubbing the back of his hand.  “We’re having a boy and a girl.  The girl is named Riley Maria.  And the boy is Pietro.”

“Those are fine names.”  He said, looking down at his hand on my stomach.

“If they are yours and Clint’s maybe one of you might have an idea for our boy’s middle name.  Your father, Thor?  Or you had a brother right, Clint?”

“The middle name should not be Odin,”  Thor said.

“You want to name him after Barney?”  Clint asked.

“If you want to.  I don’t know Barney.  Except for the trying to kill you, robbing banks thing.  You still talk about him like his the best thing ever though.”  I said with a small shrug.

“You would do that?”  He asked.  He still sounded quite shocked.  It was strange really.  Almost like he’d just found out I was pregnant in the first place.

“Yes, of course.”

“Then, yes please.”

“Alright, so Barney?  Pietro Barney… whatever the heck we settle on as a last name?”

Clint shook his head.  “Oh no, no.  Not… Barney wasn’t his name.  It was just what we called him.  Charles.  Pietro Charles?”

Natasha seemed to relax a little.  “That’s much better than Barney.”

“This has been quite the night.  Found out their biological dads.  Finished naming them.  Now we just have to agree on the last name.”  I said, rubbing my side where one of the babies was kicking me.

“I might have an idea for a last name.  One that encompasses all of us rather than just branding them as having one father.”  He said.

I turned and tilted my head.  I knew the Asgardians still named children after their father, it was quite progressive that it was him suggesting a blended name.  “Oh, what is it?”

“Skjoldbærer.”  He said.

“That sounds nice, but does it mean something?”  Steve asked.

“It means bearer of shield.”  Thor said.  “Which is what we all do, is it not.”

We all turned and looked at Steve and he raised an eyebrow.  “Why are you all looking at me like that.”

“I don’t know… You’re the guy who’s good with ideas.”  I said.

“It sounds good to me.”  He said simply.

“Maybe we should vote?”  Clint suggested.

“There’s no need, everyone likes it,”  Wanda said.

“Everyone?”  Steve asked and Wanda nodded.

“Do we really just agree on the kid’s full names?”  Sam asked.

I smiled and relaxed, running my hand over the swell of my stomach.  “Hello, little Skjodbærers,” I said softly.  “I can’t wait for you to come out and join us.”


	17. Delivery Day

Thor had to leave the following week.  He said he’d just make sure things were in place in Asgard to run smoothly while he took time with us to be here for when the babies were born and he could stay with them for as long as he could before needing to worry about kingdom things.

Unfortunately, the babies didn’t quite feel like waiting for him to return.  Two days after he left I woke up with an intense pain that ran along my side and up my back.  I sat up and made a strained moan.  I’d gone to bed with Nat in her room because I had gotten to a point where with the size I was it was feeling overwhelming to have everyone there.  She sat up with a gasp.  “What’s going on?”

I rubbed my back and winced.  “Hurts.”

She shifted over and grabbed the tablet, quickly tapping on it.  “Alright, mishka.  Just breathe.”  She said.  I whined as the pain faded and back and started breathing through my teeth.  “Alright.  FRIDAY, code purple.  Let everyone know.”

“Purple?”  I asked.

“One boy, blue.  One girl, pink.  Equals purple.”  She said.  “They’re coming.”

“No, Nat.  It’s too early.”  I whined.

“Not according to these numbers.”  She said.  I whined again and flopped back in the bed.  She looked down at me and massaged my hips.  “Come on sweetie.  We have a little bit of time but we have to get you to the medbay before you’re in full labor.”

I went to sit up and doubled over in pain as another contraction hit.  Natasha moved behind me and started rubbing my back.  “It’ll be okay.”  She soothed. “Everyone will meet us there.”

When the contraction passed I struggled to my feet and Natasha supported me as I gathered up my things and put on some slippers.  We weren’t going very far.  The very first building ready in the compound had been the medbay so that the babies could be born nearby.  For that reason, I couldn’t be bothered getting dressed properly.  I just threw on a robe and grabbed the bag I’d packed with clothes and diapers.

“Will the doctors be there yet?”  I asked as Natasha led me out through the house.

“We’ll find out when we get there.”

“Where are the others?  Are they going to meet us?”

“Should be,”  She said.  “That’s what the code purple is for.”

I nodded.  “Okay.  Good, good.”

“You just worry about those babies, mishka.  We’ll worry about everything else.”  She said opening the car door and letting me in.

Another contraction hit and I doubled over in pain, resting my head on the dashboard as I tried to breathe through it.  “Hurts, Tasha.”

“I know.  But you gotta keep with it.”  She said as she drove down our drive toward the rest of the compound.

“Don’t want to.”

“Don’t you want to meet them, mishka?”  Nat said as she pulled the car up outside the large building that held the medbay.   She turned to me and stroked my hair.  “Don’t you wanna hold your little babies?”

I whined and nodded turning from her and opening the car door.

“There we go,”  She said and got out and came around to support me.

“Why can’t Thor be the one who’s having the babies?  He’s the fertility god.”  I grumbled as she led me inside.

She stifled a laugh.  “Why don’t you ask him?”

She led me into the medbay and just as we got there another contraction hit.   I doubled over and moaned.  Natasha supported me and rubbed my back.  “Just breathe, honey.”

“Can’t.  Hurts.”  I hissed, trying to focus on my breathing.

“You gotta, printsessa.”

“Can’t they just stay in there?”  I whined.

Nat kissed the top of my head and smoothed my hair back.  “No, honey.”

Wanda, Steve, Clint, and Tony almost fell through the door behind us and stopped dead.

“How can I help?”  Wanda asked.

“Can you please give birth to these babies?”  I asked.

She chuckled and shook her head as she approached me and brushed back my head.  “That’s all on you, beautiful.  I might be able to block the pain though.”

“Mm… that would be good,”  I said, leaning toward her a little.  There was a sudden gush of fluid from me and I looked down and started crying.  It all felt overwhelmed and not at all ready.  I wanted everyone here and I didn’t even think Thor would be able to make it, and now my water just broke all over Wanda and Nat’s shoes and soaked through my slippers and it was too early.

“Woah, that was crazy,”  Tony said.

“Not helping, Tony,”  Natasha said, holding me.  “Shhh… it’s alright, mishka.  They’re getting ready.”

Almost like she was summoned Doctor Schroeder came out and smiled at us.  She didn’t even look blearly or like we woke her up or anything.  “Hi, Elly.  You ready to have these babies?”

“She’s gonna say no,”  Natasha said.

“Well, it’s too early,”  I grumbled, following the doctor into the prep room.

“We knew they could come anytime.  It’s now, Elly.”  Doctor Schroeder said.  There was a team of medical staff in the room and a man came over to us.  “Elly, this is Doctor Jamil the anesthetist.  He’s going to do the epidural and spinal block.  But first, you need to go and change into the robes.”

I went and changed and when I came back Doctor Jamil put an IV in and had me sit on the edge of the bed.  “Okay, who’s the lucky parent who gets to support her while I do this.  Needs to be good with needles.  In fact, if needles make you squeamish you should probably leave the room because this is it.”  He said and held up a large needle.

“That’d be me,”  Nat said.

“If you stand in front of her and let her lean against you.  We’ll wait for another contraction so we know it won’t happen during the procedure and then I will insert this between her lower vertebrae.”  He explained.

Natasha nodded and got into position.  I leaned on her and he felt down my spine finding a spot between vertebrae.  He waited until another contraction hit and I groaned and my hands tightened on Natasha’s back.

“It’s okay.  I’m right here.”  She soothed.

I nodded against her neck and when it was done he put the needle in.   When everything was where it should be and taped in place, he stood back.  “Okay, lie back and get comfortable while it kicks in.  You won’t be able to see anything that’s happening and you should only feel pushing and pulling sensations.”

I did as I was instructed and they wheeled me into the operating theater and started setting up the barrier and bringing other things over.

The other’s all scrubbed up before coming int to meet me.  Wanda looked around the room as she moved to my side..  “All of us will fit in here right?”

“Yes.  We’ve set it up so there are places for you all to sit or stand.  Just remember, this side of the curtain is the censored part.”  Doctor Schroeder said.  “Over here you will see the surgery and you need to not get too close.”

“Okay.”  She said and sat by my side.

The medical staff started prepping me as my body began to go numb from the waist down.  “Where is everyone?  Bucky said he’d hold my hand.”  I said starting to get quite distressed.

Steve looked at the door and then back at me.  “He and Sam are dealing with a code green.”

“No.  Oh no.”  I said and started to cry again.

“Shh… it’s okay, Elly.  He’ll be here one way or the other.”  Natasha soothed.

“I’m not sure if there is enough room in the theatre for the Hulk.  We can pull the curtains back on that wall, it’s glass and he can watch on the other side but he needs to stay calm for Elly’s sake.”  Doctor Shroeder said.  She ran something along my stomach and looked over the partition at me.  “Feel anything?”

I shook my head, trying to get my tears back under control.

“Good.”  She said.  “I’m now sure how much longer we can wait for everyone before I start.”

“They’re working on it,”  Wanda said.  “There’s a lot of noise.”

I completely broke down into tears, covering my face and sobbing loudly.  “I don’t want to do this.”

“Elly.  Listen to me,”  Natasha said sternly.  “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!”  I cried.  “Everyone was supposed to be here!”

“Sorry, sorry,”  Sam said, shoving the door open and pulling on a gown.  “We had some serious negotiating to do.”

Bucky and Bruce followed him in a little more calmly.  Bruce’s skin was green around the neck and one of his eyes was iridescent green.

“You both came,” I said taking a shuddering breath.

“Sorry, El,”  Bruce said, his voice coming in in stereo, but his normal timbre and the deep rumble of the Hulk.

“Is everyone ready?”  Doctor Shroeder asked picking up the scalpel.

“Not yet,”  Wanda said.  “We’re missing one.”

“Is he going to be able to get here?”  I asked as Bucky moved to my side and took my hand.

“I think so,”  Wanda said.

“I can’t wait for him.  I’ll have to start and hopefully, he gets here before they’re out.”  The doctor said.  She ran the scalpel over my abdomen as a large rumble of thunder sounded around us.

“There we go,”  Wanda said with a smile, reaching over and patting my hand.

“Tell me if you feel any pain?”  Doctor Schroeder asked as she started the surgery properly.

The door pushed open again and Thor strode in.  “I made it!”  He boomed.

“Just in time,”  I said a wave of relief falling over me.

“Good, good.  Let us meet these children.”  He said.

I squeezed Bucky’s hand, Natasha gently stroked my brow as they went about cutting and moving things about to get to the twins.

“Babies, El,”  Wanda said softly.

“Mm-hmm.”   I hummed.  “Who do you think they’re going to get to first?”

“I think Riley.”  She replied.

“You’re going to find out in a second.”  Doctor Schroeder said.  A moment later, I felt a weird pressure as one of the babies was pulled free.   “It’s your little girl.”

She didn’t cry as they fussed around her, getting rid of the placenta and clamping and cutting the cord.  “Goodness, look at you.”  One of the nurses said.

“Is she okay?  Why isn’t she crying?”  I asked.

“Ms. Maximoff, your daughter.  Could you take her to Elise?  Hold her against her skin for a moment.”  Doctor Schroeder said.

Wanda made a soft noise, as she took Riley.  “Our pretty little girl.”  She said and brought her over to me, placing her gently on my chest.  “Look at our brave little girl just watching everything.”

I looked down into my daughter’s eyes.  She made some soft sounds and just looked around us with her big blue eyes.  “Oh, look at her.”

“Curious little girl.”  Wanda hummed.

I breathed her in and kissed her softly.  “Hey, Riley.  Welcome to the world.”

“She’s so small,”  Bucky said.

“She is tiny.  Bright blue eyes like her daddy.”  I hummed.

“She’s like little Steve.”  He said.

I smiled, not being able to take my eyes off her.  “Yeah.  She is.”

“Captain Rogers.  I’m going to need you in a second.  Miss Maximoff. I’ll need you to follow the nurse out to the other room so they can check her over now.”  Doctor Schroeder said.

“Okay,”  Wanda replied, gently cradling Riley but not taking her from me yet.  “I’m going to have to take her back.”

A few stray tears ran down my cheeks.  “Bye baby.  Your Daj will look after you for a bit.”  I said nuzzling at her cheek.  As I did I felt that pressure in my abdomen again and the sound of a baby crying filled the room.

Wanda took Riley away as Pietro was cleaned up and seen to.  He was handed to Steve by one of the nurses and Doctor Schroeder turned her focus back to me.  “Okay, take her over to meet, Elly for a moment.  Everyone else needs to clear the room.  Go hold your babies.  One of you can stay to hold Elly’s hand.”  She instructed.

Tony, Bruce, Clint, Sam, and Thor all gave me a soft look before shuffling out of the room and Steve brought a still wailing Pietro over to me.  He put him on me and he began to quiet.  “Oh, Steve.  Look at him.”  I said.  “Is he okay?”

“He’s just a little fussy,”  Steve said.  “His world just got infinitely bigger.  He’s better with his mommy.”

“Needed your mommy,”  I said softly.

“Okay Captain Rogers, if you can take him in with the others.  Agent Romanoff, Sergeant Barnes time to decide who’s staying.”  Doctor Schroeder said.

“El?”  Natasha whispered.

“I don’t mind.  Just want someone here.”  I said, nuzzling at Pietro.

“I’ll stay,”  Bucky said.  “I know how you get, Nat.”

“Kiss my babies for me,”  I said.

“Of course, Mishka,”  Natasha said.  “I’ll smother them with kisses.”

I reached up and caressed her cheek.  “Thank you, Tasha.”

“Of course.”  She said and kissed my forehead.  Steve lifted Pietro from me.

“We should be about half an hour.  Then she’ll go into recovery.  You can one at a time check on her there.”  Doctor Schroeder said.

“We’ll let everyone know.  Thanks, Doc,”  Natasha said and left with Steve, leaving me with the medical team and Bucky holding my hand.


	18. Chapter 18

The surgery didn’t take long.  All up I was alone, holding Bucky’s hand for about half an hour.  I was then wheeled to observation to wait with him alone until I was cleared.  It felt weird.  Because it was a spinal block, I still felt quite clear-headed, but as it left my system, the pain started to return.  I was given painkillers for it that was safe for the babies, but that was what started to make me feel a little groggy and sleepy.

It felt strange though.   An hour ago I was pregnant and now I wasn’t and I still hadn’t gotten to properly hold my babies.  It felt like there was something missing.

“When do I get to hold them?”  I asked.

“I know you want to,”  Bucky said.  “But not until you’re cleared.”

“I feel weird without them.  Like part of me is missing.”

Bucky leaned down and kissed the top of my head.  “It’s going to be okay, El.  Trust me.”

“I don’t even know if they are okay.  They’re just so little.”

“Yeah, but,”  Bucky said, moving to sit next to me in the bed.  I shifted into the crook of his arm and he wrapped it around me.  “Did you hear how loud Pietro cried?  Or what about how curious Riley was?”

I nodded slowly.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I did.”  I said and took his hand, playing with his fingers and running my fingertips over the decorative metalwork in his hand.  “Were you okay with all the medical stuff?”

He raised his eyebrows at me.  “For my kids?”

“I mean… you just sat through surgery for me and I know you don’t like people coming at you with needles.  That was a big fucking needle they used.”

“And it was for my kids,”  Bucky said.

I smiled and nuzzled at his hand, it really sinking in right then.  We knew that the biological fathers were Thor and Clint, but these were Bucky’s kids.  He didn’t just see himself as a caretaker for someone else’s.  He was all in.  To the point that he would endure things that trigger him to make sure they were safe and so was I.  “Your kids.”

“Yeah,”  He said and kissed the top of my head.  “We have those now.”

“Two of them,”  I agreed.  “They didn’t exist.  Now they do.”

“Yeah, it can get a little trippy if you think about it that way,”  Bucky said, with a soft laugh.

“Yeah.  It really feels weird how I was pregnant and now I’m suddenly not.  I feel…”  I waved my hand near my head, not quite sure how to describe the cognitive dissonance I was feeling.

“Yeah, but very soon you can squish them,”  Bucky said, pulling me a little tighter to him.

“If they ever let me,”  I grumbled.

“They will.”

“They’re so little though,”  I said, curling in against Bucky more.  “What if I squash them for real?  Did you see how tiny Pietro looked in Steve’s hands?”

Bucky stifled a laugh.  “Calm down, doll.  You’re not going to squash any of them.”

“They look so fragile,”  I whined.

“They are a little early,”  Bucky said, cuddling me.  “You’re gonna be a great mom, Elly.”

The door opened and two nurses came in pushing incubators in front of them.  Pietro and Riley were tucked inside each.  Both with heartrate monitors and Pietro had a nasal cannula too.  “Here’s your babies, mommy,”  The first one said, pulling the incubator up and gently lifting Riley from it.  She brought her over to me and carefully put her into my arms.  “You should try breastfeeding, but they will need to go back in the crib in 20 minutes.”  I adjusted how I was sitting so I was both comfortable and could offer my breast to Riley.  The nurse helped me out until she was latched on and suckling well.

Bucky watched closely and ran his hand down her arm.  She wrapped her tiny hand around his fingers and the look of absolutely pure love on his face made my heart feel like it was about to burst.

The other nurse took Pietro out and brought him over.  “Would you like to hold him, Sergeant Barnes?”  Bucky nodded and she put him into Bucky’s arms.

“We’ll leave you alone for a little while.  You can page if you need help but otherwise, we’ll be back when they need to go back into the incubator.”  The first nurse said, before leaving the room.  As the nurses left the other’s all filed in and took seats around the room.

“Hey, little girl,”  I whispered, running my finger down Riley’s cheek.  Bucky sat staring at Pietro, gently running his thumb along his arm.  Pietro wiggled a little before falling back to sleep.

“How long have they slept?”  I asked, still speaking very softly.

“Pietro on and off.  Riley just won’t.”  Natasha said.  “She hasn’t cried at all though.”

“You not sleeping, little girl?  Too interested in the world?” I whispered to her, putting my finger in her hand.  “She has such intense eyes.”

“She’s really into watching,”  Wanda said.

I looked over at Clint.  “How are you doing there?”

“I’m breathing,”  Clint said.

I laughed softly.  “Good.  Me too.”

“Still processing.  It’s crazy, huh?”  Clint said.

“It’s okay.  It’s okay.”  I said, kissing Riley.  “Man, the soft spot is weird.”

“Try not to think about it,”  Natasha said.

“How?  What if I poke it by accident?”

Natasha stifled a laugh.  “Well don’t.”  I made a weird sound, which made her laugh out loud.  “Don’t do that either.”

“Natasha.  I don’t know what I’m doing.”  I whined.

“No one ever does, mishka.  But look at you feeding her.  And her little eyes are closing finally.  She’ll be asleep soon.”  Natasha said.

I looked over at Bucky and Pietro.   “How are you doing, Buck?”

“He’s really tiny,”  Bucky said, quietly.

“He is.  And you’re holding him and he’s not crying.  He was crying before.”

“Yeah, I really don’t know how I did that,”  Bucky said.

“Sleepy boy has a safe space,”  I said and Riley let go of my breast her head rolling back and her mouth open a little, deep asleep.   “God they’re so tiny.  You wanna trade, Buck?”

He nodded and Steve moved closer to help us exchange the two babies.  I struggled a little to get Pietro to start suckling but when he did, he suckled strongly.

“Which of these tiny loaves of bread are gonna end up ruling Asgard do you think?” I asked.

“My money’s on the girl,”  Tony said.

“Yeah.  She’s more chill and a bit bigger.”  I agreed.  “Thor, will they have Allspeak?  Can they just understand already or do they have to learn?  Or is Allspeak something granted to them later?  Or will they never get it because they’re half-human?”

Thor looked at me and his brows knitted together as he thought.  “You know. That is a very good question.”

“You don’t remember getting it?”  I asked.

“No.” He said, with a slow shake of his head.

“Maybe you always had it then,”  Steve suggested.

He shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

I looked over at Riley who was still sleeping deeply in Bucky’s arms.  “Can you understand us, little girl?”  I asked.

“She seemed to,”  Wanda said.  “Piet too, but … they don’t think like us.  So it’s hard to say.  They understand things though.”

“I like how she fell asleep with your boob in her mouth,”  Tony said.

“Oh, I read they do that sometimes,”  Clint said.  “Something about this is like them getting drunk.”

“I was thinking she was just like her dad.”  I joked.

“How do you know she’s mine?”  Clint asked.

I burst out laughing.  “That big of a boob guy are you that that had to be about you?”  Sam asked.

“That’d be pretty derogatory to Thor,”  Clint argued.

I shrugged.  “I can’t help it you all like boobs.”

“Alright. No fighting in front of the babies,”  Natasha scolded.

“We have children.  It’s really weird.”  I said again.

Natasha laughed and shook her head.  “Gonna have to get over that.  They’ll be crying and getting on your nerves in no time.”

“I’ll just give them to you when they’re like that.”  I teased.

“Uh-huh.”  Natasha scoffed.

“I just… we made people… that’s crazy okay.”

“Alright, El,”  Natasha said coming over and kissing my temple.

I smiled and kissed Piet softly.  He grumbled and his hand opened and closed on my breast.  “I’m basically a god now.”

“Not exactly,”  Thor said.

“I don’t see you growing any people from basically nothing.”  I teased.

He laughed and shook his head.  “Fine.  You are a goddess, Elise.”

The nurses came back into the room and smiled at us.  “Okay.  They need to go back into the incubators again now I’m afraid.”  One said.  We nodded and they came and took them from us, reattaching the monitors to them.  “You’re welcome to visit them at any time.  Having someone talking to them and touching them is encouraged.”

“They’re going to be able to see each other right?”  Wanda asked.

“Oh, yes.”  She said.  “And if they can’t settle alone, we’ll move them into the same one.  They can scratch each other, so we like to keep a little barrier between them first.”

“Okay,”  Wanda said.  “That’s good.”

“Well, you know where they are,”  She said.  “We’d encourage Elise to sleep soon too.  That was pretty major surgery she has to recover from.”

“Yes.  Rest.”  Natasha agreed.

I watched as the babies were wheeled back down to the intensive care room and then lay my bed back down.

“Pick your person,”  Natasha said.

“I don’t know,”  I said.  “I want you guys to be with the babies, and I know some of you are still processing.  Does anyone particularly want to stay with me?”

They looked between each other and Sam started taking his shoes off.  “I’ll stay.”

I smiled and nodded.  “I’d love that.”

Bucky got off the bed and kissed my temple and then everyone else went around and did the same before Sam squeezed into the bed with me.  I snuggled into his arms and he closed them around me.  “Night, new parents.”  I hummed.

“Night, sweetheart,”  Steve said.  “Get some rest.  We’ll be nearby when you wake.”

I drifted off to sleep in Sam’s arms.  Things were different now.  This was a new chapter to all our lives.  I was excited about it.  I couldn’t wait to see them all as parents and to see the children grow in this unconventional but very loving family.  Our future looked limitless.


End file.
